AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the extended delay. Lots of problems in real life. Some days I can't get out more than a few sentences. Anyway...hope this big chapter was worth the wait.

UPDATE 2/25/13: One of my readers was good enough to point out that, for five chapters now, I have continued to refer to Quaren as "private" despite his promotion to "corporal". I've fixed that now.

Five Hours Later

The Excalibur was running hard enough to overheat the engines and, considering the fact that Cid had already made special modifications, was, unquestionably, moving faster than any boat on Gaia. Yet Dael still felt like a snail. It had only taken a few inquiries, sensory relays, and just plain listening-to-the-news to get the story. She had time to get all of it, however. It took much longer than she wanted for Cid and Cryder to maneuver the ship out from the archipelago, again making sure not to alert sentry ships, and start heading north again. They had lost a good four hours even if it did go a lot faster than getting in. As soon as they were out to the open ocean, however, the throttle had been turned to full, auto-pilot engaged, and a meeting called in the ready room.

Everyone had still been patching themselves up and recovering, but were now looking rather uncomfortable. They had obtained two new Guardian Forces…but it looked as if none of them were going to have as much time to get used to them as they would like.

"How large is the invading fleet?" Cryder asked once the general situation was explained.

"A fourth of the navy is moving out." Dael answered. "Coupled with back-up ships, an entire third is deploying. However, it's not likely they'll send more than the fourth out."

Quaren let out a sigh and slumped a bit, looking rather nervous. "Of course not…they want to show the world they only have to extend a 'finger' to crush someone…"

Cid wiped his brow uncomfortably. "They have a combat-ready navy in Lamb…but nothing like the Sybenians."

"A fourth is more than large enough to outnumber Lamb's navy three to one." Dael darkly answered. "That is, assuming it even comes to a fight… We should be thankful that Lady Cybus managed to get there so quickly." She paused momentarily. "This is off the record…but the Esthar embassy is reporting that Boss Capulluno was literally on his way to the capitol to sign a document containing Sybenia's terms of surrender. The diplomats were wondering if they needed to evacuate as part of the terms were to hand over all embassies to Sybenian control, when apparently she discovered one of the terms was to cooperate in measures that could lead to more wholesale taking of Order of Hyne members. When the boss refused to listen to her protests…she took it to the people. Now there's enough public pressure to force him not to sign."

Taraketh was bristling in anger by now, but Dael had to admit the situation made her rather upset too. Ceja, on her part, snorted. "Cowardly 'civilized world' leaders. And where is this man now?"

"Where else?" Dael answered with a sigh. "Hiding in an undisclosed bunker on one of the lesser known islands in the archipelago. He's turned everything over to the minister of defense. But he'll be just as likely to surrender without support. And currently…Esthar is the only one who can provide any."

"Relatively speaking, lass." Cryder said sourly. "Some of your country's 'support' may be more of the 'moral' and 'spiritual' kind. Lamb may have a smattering of warships…enough even to dissuade the Black Corsairs…but Esthar sure as hell doesn't."

"Yeah, commander…" Quaren threw in uncomfortably. "We've got 25 Longsword-Class ships and 8 Morningstar-Class ships. Everything else is just transports. Most of those ships are for short range defense. I mean, we can only spare some of them anyway…"

"I think the colonel knows that, corporal." Dael answered. She inhaled deeply, growing a bit uneasy at her next thought herself. "…That's why he's sending all of them."

Everyone around the table went a bit wide-eyed…even Jalab.

"All of them?!" Quaren retorted, unable to hide his shock. "Those ships are the only things protecting the coast!"

"Don't take this the wrong way, lass…" Cryder added. "But if I was a Black Corsair, I'd say it was happy holidays. I'd sail every last ship I had to the southern tip of Esthar and just plunder and pillage my thieving heart out."

"Except the Black Corsairs can't do that. They have their hands full with Leuco and Sybenia." Dael responded.

"But Dael, there's nothing left to protect Esthar!" Quaren protested. "Nothing but some shore artillery units that'll never stand up to a major force…"

"Yes, but the navy isn't headed for Esthar. It's headed for Lamb." Dael answered. "This may be crazy…but we've got to stop Sybenia here. The Lamb Archipelago is the only ally left in the world that can lend Esthar some serious support. If this country falls, it will be Esthar vs. the world. Those kind of odds historically haven't done so well."

Bahamut raised his head for a moment here. Dael noticed it, and looked to him. However, he bowed it soon afterward again, saying nothing.

"There's no way that gaggle of ships that Esthar is scraping together can turn the tide for Lamb, lass." Cryder said grimly. "Sorry to have to break it to you, but that's the truth."

"We have a bit more than warships on our side, however." Dael responded. "A lot of transports are being brought in too, carrying every Esthar Hawk we can spare, and even a number of members of the Order of Hyne. The Sybenian navy may have a lot of naval power, but ships aren't going to take out Lamb or the larger islands. They'll have to make landfall. And when they do, they'll find Sorceress Cybus, a number of High Children of Hyne, Esthar's Hawks, and whatever military Lamb already possesses waiting for them. And they do have a few well-fortified positions for naval bombardment in the first place. Maybe one of these things alone can't stop the whole navy, but if each line of defense 'takes a piece' of the Sybenian Navy out…they'll be spread too thin eventually and have to break off the attack."

"You really think so?" Quaren asked.

Dael could only shrug. "That's the theory."

"So much the better." Ceja said, more enthusiastic. "Better to force them onto land. The Sybenians are weak. One of your Esthar's Hawks can put seven of them to flight. And I can scatter a hundred without trying." She turned to her side. "I'm sure Sir Tierras can send a thousand fleeing in terror."

The monk seemed to blush a little at the compliment. Normally he wouldn't have, but when coming from Ceja…

"You may get your wish…" Cryder said with an uneasy groan. "According to Cid's calculations of the enemy fleet's position and speed, and factorin' in the speed of the Excalibur, sea conditions, and weather…weather especially, as we've been having an unusual season where hurricanes are heading up north…and all that other rot that I had my navigators do for me…" He paused and grimaced. "…The battle's going to have been goin' for four hours by the time we join the party."

No one looked happy about that, yet Cryder wasn't finished.

"It gets better." He stated sarcastically. "We not only have the fastest ship in the E.H.T., but we're also the closest. We're definitely going to be there a lot sooner than the rest of our mateys from Esthar."

Quaren paled a bit on hearing that. "…Um, commander, are we really expected to abide by Emergency Order 117?" He asked, almost fearing the answer.

Dael feared it herself, but didn't show it. "We are, corporal."

"Do I even want to know what that is?" Taraketh muttered.

The corporal ran a hand through his blond hair. "Emergency Order 117: In the case of emergency wartime deployment, all advance units are to immediately carry out orders on arrival at designate location without waiting for full deployment."

"In other words…it'll be us versus the navy when we get there." Dael responded grimly.

Everyone was silent in response to hearing that. This was pretty dire. Even if all of the E.H.T. had been behind them they would have been nervous enough. But just them alone? There was no telling if the Lamb navy would already be destroyed by the time they got there. And if it was, then they'd have to hold the line by themselves… Dael remembered all too well her glimpses of the Sybenian navy. She didn't like the odds.

Yet before this could go on for too long, Cid looked around to everyone. "Hey! What's with all this moping around?" He called out. "It's not so bad."

Everyone looked up to Cid at that, most of them staring at him as if his head had just fallen off. Yet the Sorceress Knight smiled and looked them all over.

"You all act like we're totally powerless out here. We've got the Excalibur! She's faster than those Sybenian slugs on the best day of the week! I could run rings around their fastest ship! And she's got a bit of firepower to her as well!"

"But not that much of it, lad." Cryder responded. "What…eight missiles all together?"

Ceja, however, picked up on Cid's enthusiasm. "We've got more than that." She looked over with a smile to Jalab. "From what I've seen, Sir Tierras can do everything that one of those cannons can do. "

The monk was a bit surprised at the sudden complement, but then blushed bashfully…like he was being complimented on a hand-made sympathy card.

"That's right." Quaren threw in, beginning to pick up as well. He looked to Taraketh. "And you, you're some sort of big mage, aren't you?"

Taraketh frowned in response. "If we were on land, that would mean something, but as we're over water-"

"But what about the Guardian Forces?" Quaren cut off. "You could use their powers, and whatever magic you learned from them. Better than any of the rest of us too, I'll bet."

The High Child paused. After all…he was susceptible to flattery. After a moment, he moistened his lips. "Well, yeah, but…"

"Don't you think a couple of the Guardian Forces we have are enough to do serious damage to one of those ships?" Dael asked, chiming in. "I mean…maybe I can't do it myself, but you're strong enough to make them do serious damage, yes? After all, in theory, one could use these Guardian Forces to attack fortified cities, yes?"

Taraketh paused again, thinking this over, but then gave a shrug. "…I suppose you're right."

"You see?" Cid answered. "Things aren't as hopeless as they seem. Between the Excalibur, our junctions, and our powers…I think we can give that fleet a run for its money."

Dael wasn't sure she'd go that far. A fourth of the Sybenian navy? She didn't care if the Excalibur could travel at light speed…those odds were a bit overwhelming. She especially hoped that some sort of defense was still standing there, as she much preferred to move in with the Lamb navy. However…if the Lamb navy was still standing when they got there, then they'd probably draw off most of the enemy fire, and the Excalibur would be free to move around at will. Cid was right, they did have some advantages. That armor back in Garrado was supposed to be able to stand up to a squad of tanks, after all, and yet they took it down just the same. Maybe she wasn't giving their group enough credit… Maybe they could make a difference. She looked around the table again, and saw that everyone was looking up a bit. Even Cryder, who had been skeptical at first, was getting a bit of his pirate nature back and seeming to enjoy the prospect.

Finally, she looked back to Cid. "How long before we reach the Lamb Archipelago?"

The engineer turned back. "Thirteen hours."

Dael nodded, and looked back to everyone else. "Alright…everyone, crazy as this is, we're going to somehow pull it off. You've all got six hours to rest. After that, for the last seven hours, we're going to be getting ready for war."

Seven Hours Later

Despite Dael's order to get some sleep, no one had really been able to. When she and Bahamut retired to the master cabin, he urged her to try. After all, they needed to be at their best when they got there. He admitted, however, that he himself wouldn't be able to do it so well. Luckily, the Tonberry King had stressed them out enough to finally nod off after an hour to 90 minutes of simply lying awake. But once the alarm went off, she was more than ready to spring up and go into action…she and everyone else.

There was a little time for practice, but mostly everyone just got everything ready. Everything that was loose was secured, their few munitions were readied, and Cid gave all the systems a once over. Although they hadn't accumulated that much wear and tear within the span of less than a week, he made sure everything was working perfectly. After that, everyone mostly prepared for battle. As a number of them were physical or "mental" fighters, that included stretching and mediation.

Dael, on her part, put that off a bit longer as she went to the bridge of the ship to see how things were coming. Cryder had taken the helm at the moment, although all he was really doing for right now was monitoring sensors for any stray Sybenian ships that might have been trying to move down through Leuco. Cid himself was still making more tune-ups. That included a few slight modifications to their own artillery shells with the intent of making them faster and more destructive. There wasn't too much to see on deck other than a few members of their group trying to erect some form of protection or barricade for Jalab and Taraketh. Even then, she couldn't see too well. Night had fallen again. It would be daybreak by the time they reached the Lamb Archipelago tomorrow morning, however. It seems they would have straight vision on their side, at least. Then again…so would the Sybenians. Any thoughts of hiding Jalab as their "secret weapon" were abandoned.

Quaren was with her as they looked out the window over the front of the ship. Being the only official "soldier" in her command, he was the one who deferred to her the most.

"Cryder is going to remain at the helm for the battle." Dael explained to him. "Jalab's going to stay up front and I'm going to back him up with all the protection magic I can. He's essentially going to be a sitting duck, after all." She turned to Quaren. "I'm keeping you on 'defense'. I want you manning the countermeasures. You're the best marksman, so you should be able to keep most of them off of us. And once we're out of countermeasures, I want you to go ahead and use your rifle with armor-piercers."

The corporal was rather incredulous at that. "…Um, commander…that's kind of a tall order…"

"Yes, but you were already a great shooter before you got junctioned, and now you're better than ever." Dael simply answered. "I don't think any 'standard' human could pull it off…but I think you can."

The Esthar's Hawk paused for a few moments, seeming to think this over. But then, he nodded. "I'll do my best."

Dael, however, looked sourly at him in response. "…Quaren, what did Colonel Regalis always tell us about people who 'do their best'?"

The young man swallowed a bit on hearing that, but nodded again. "…I'll do it, commander." He corrected.

Dael nearly ventured a smile at this, but she didn't. She was in 'business' mode now, shifting into the full measure of her training and self-discipline. She didn't have much time for mirth or even being too much on the friendly side. She looked forward again.

"Taraketh's also going to be on deck, but he can hide a bit more. I think the Guardian Forces will seek out a target. However, I also think they'll be the shortest range attack we possess. Most of it is going to have to be handled by Jalab or our own weapons…at least until we run out of ammo."

"On that note, commander…" Quaren spoke up. "Are you sure you don't want me manning the weapons?"

Dael shook her head. "Sybenian naval craft are rather large targets. I'd prefer you take care of the smaller ones like their missiles and artillery. Cid can handle the weapons console."

"Um…beggin' your pardon, but no he can't, lass."

Both the commander and the corporal looked up at that, turning their heads to Cryder at the helm. "Chap already told me that he'd prefer to handle the engineerin' front while we're engaged in battle." He elaborated. "And I'm of a mind to agree with him. Mishaps happen all the time in normal combat. With just us against the Sybenian fleet, I want to make sure those engines stay hummin', especially since I'm going to be pushing them to the burnout point every step of the way."

Dael and Quaren looked back to each other. "Well, that takes care of that." Quaren stated. "If I'm not manning the weapons, someone else has to. Ceja, maybe? I mean, the console has been so automated even a trainee could run it."

The Esthar's Hawk officer looked skeptical on hearing that. "…When it comes to technology, Ceja's more on the level of a native islander. We can get Cid up here to try and give her a crash course, but I'm still not sure I want her aiming the guns."

Quaren merely shrugged in response. "Well if not her, commander…who's left?"

Dael paused for a few moments to consider that, before she could only come up with one solution. Although it made her grimace to even think of it, some of her logic nevertheless kicked in.

Think of it this way… It'll keep him out of trouble.

Bahamut didn't look so much nervous as awkward as he sat in the chair for the weapon's console. He regarded the triggers and buttons, of which there were quite a lot, over the weaponry systems with a bit of confusion. If that wasn't enough, he was a bit on the short side. They actually had shoved a few manuals under his seat so he could see the console easily enough. Dael, however, still had a bit more confidence in him than Ceja. For all of his talk about being "out of date", he seemed to at least know how to run modern machines in an academic sense. Cid was hunched over the back of his chair and directing him to everything.

"Alright, this is as automated as it gets. See this switch right here? This is what switches you into control of the deck guns. And this switch here switches on the rocket bay. Only one can be active at a time, and it takes exactly 65 seconds to switch in between them, so make sure if you've got to switch, it's when we can afford to. Alright?"

"Alright."

"I'll switch to the deck guns now." He activated it. "Notice you have a split-screen readout. There's lots of functions, but for what we're doing, I want you to pay attention to just this level of magnification. The screen on the right is the sensor sweep. It'll let you know where ships are in relation to us at all times. The screen on the left is the 'scope' view. See that big crosshairs? That's effectively where the shot is going to go. I've modified the cannons and the shells to make them travel as fast as possible…but they're still not 'ideal'. This isn't like in the movies where they always hit whatever the target it aimed at. There's a lag time. So take that into account. The shell isn't going to hit what's in the crosshairs the moment you pull the trigger. It's going to hit a bit later. The best rule of thumb I can give you is to look at the screen on the right. See these circles eminating from the Excalibur? For each one of these major gridlines, count a second. Got it?"

"…Yes, I got it."

"Don't worry about the rest of the controls. Pay attention to the icons, though. You can't just keep pressing the trigger. This icon on the screen represents reload time. It's on an auto-feed, but you've got about 15 seconds between shots. This over here is the overheating icon. Fire too fast and it's going to go up. Don't get to 50% or the whole system will start being damaged and I may have to replace some circuit boards before it will even fire again. Alright…now for the missiles. Switch your console first." Cid reached over and did so. "Remember, you need to wait 65 seconds in battle between transitions to either weapon. There's multiple ways to target, but only one way you can do it alone…and that's the primary triangulation eye and the coarse triangulation eye. The primary one will hit the mark every time and is more efficient, but it won't operate at more than 1.6 kilometers. And the missiles won't even arm unless they can go 0.8 kilometers. The coarse one will go up to 3.2 kilometers, but that's it. Afterward, the only way to target something with missiles is to use sonar or radar echoes, but you need another person for that. You'll only be firing within the smaller range. Good so far?"

Bahamut was a bit more hesitant, but then nodded. "Yes."

"You see the target here. Now, you can think of the ship as being instantly hit. You aim the crosshairs on the target and depress the trigger here. You need to keep the eye aimed on it and the trigger depressed for 6 seconds to fully map the location to the targeting computer. After that, the screen will read a target lock. Now…press this…" Cid showed a button. "To bring up the payload. Select one that is still present…" He pressed another button. "Press this button to arm it…and make sure it's armed or you'll just throw a big metal stick at them…press this button to apply it to the designate target…and then press this button to fire. Got it?"

The boy paused for a while, but then began to go over the buttons, calling out commands as he did so. "Aim. Trigger. Payload. Select. Arm. Apply. Fire."

Cid smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Great! We'll make a gunner out of you yet!"

Bahamut, on his part, looked unsuspecting of the shoulder pat, as well as hesitant, but he didn't buckle. Dael noticed this, but decided to say nothing. This weapon's console was one of the most well-protected areas on the ship. And with Bahamut staying out of trouble, she could focus more on the fight. She turned back to Quaren soon after. "Alright, that takes care of him."

The corporal nodded as the bulkhead opened, revealing Jalab coming inside with a lockable container filled with circuit elements. Just like Cid had said…in case there was a burnout, then they needed to be able to repair systems on the bridge in a hurry. That meant they should have materials on hand. Quaren ignored him, but soon grimaced after a moment.

"…We still don't have a spot for Ceja." He remarked, a bit regretfully. It wasn't due to her lack of ability to help, but rather due to the fact that he couldn't really interact with her without her making some off-handed comment about the fact that he had been accepted into Esthar's Hawks in the first place. "There's nothing on this ship that's both easy enough for her to run as well as essential to the fighting, either."

Dael picked up on that and sighed. "You've got a point. I know she's an amazing physical fighter…but with no ranged attacks of any kind other than her axe, which is effectively 'hand-to-hand' in a situation like this, she can't do a whole lot of good on the top deck. Even her axe won't go farther than a hundred to a hundred and fifty yards. And even if it did, there's no guarantee it won't just stick in the side of the ship. I'm kind of at a loss."

Quaren shrugged. "I guess we could just ask her to 'sit out'. I mean, it's not like she really has a choice about it anyway."

"She'll never go with that." Dael flatly answered. "She's too much of an activist."

"But commander, she can't fight in this battle."

Dael and Quaren hadn't noticed until this point, but Jalab had set the circuit elements down on a special deposit area and had fastened them down. As he did so, he overheard the two Esthar's Hawks. He watched them for a moment, but as they reached this part of the conversation, he suddenly stepped up to both of them.

"Ceja comes out with me." He simply stated.

Both Dael and Quaren looked up to him at that, suddenly interrupted. However, a moment later, they understood what the monk said, and looked to him more out of puzzlement than anything else. As for Jalab, he gave one of his soft, friendly smiles to both of them…even though it looked slightly clueless in this situation.

"…Um, Sir Tierras, I don't think Ceja can really help you out all that much." Dael responded. "She doesn't really know how to use her spells, she can't summon Guardian Forces that well, and her weapon is effectively short range."

Jalab, however, merely kept his smile. Moving over a bit more so that he was posted in between Dael and Quaren, he reached out and patted them both on the back, looking like he was trying to imitate a gesture he had seen used more in the "civilized" world.

"Trust me." He stated in his thick accent, before turning and beginning to walk out through the bulkhead.

Dael was left dumbfounded for a moment, staring after him. However, he offered no more response than that, and was soon gone, shutting the bulkhead behind him. The commander was puzzled as to what Jalab was thinking, and how she could possibly be a help. However, she knew now by experience that the Sorceress Knight tended to know what he was talking about. If he said to trust him, then she would.

Leaving it at that, she looked to Quaren again. "…Let's see if we're in relay range yet. We need to RSVP to this little party…"

Five Hours Later

When all was said and done, everything was set, all weapons were fully serviced and at the ready and everyone had prepared themselves as physically and mentally as possible, there was nothing left to do but the worst part: the waiting.

The Excalibur was still headed north at maximum speed, although by now they were making minor changes to start aiming the craft toward the site of the battle. They had finally gotten radio contact a few hours ago, luckily prior to the battle starting. They tried to get in touch with Lady Cybus, but it was impossible. The morale of the people of the Archipelago was fading rapidly. She had to try and uplift it as much as possible. Dael had to admit…the greatest strength of the Sorceresses might be in their personas. Just having a Sorceress nearby tended to fill one with a sense of hope… Just looking at their calm, collected faces was like a fearful child looking up to a parent…giving the sense that "everything is going to be alright". Meanwhile, a few more of the people in power had fled for cover, but that was just as well, in Dael's mind. Now only the brave, those who were willing to "go down swinging" were left to be in charge of thing. The fleet was mustered and made a perimeter.

Unfortunately, the last transmission they had received had been 150 minutes ago by now. From what they heard, the flagship of the Lamb Archipelago Magistrate Fleet, the Mahi-Mahi, announced that the Sybenians were beginning to show up on their long-range sensors. The first of their ships had crossed into the general-range sensor sweeps when the radio went dead. Cid tried contacting the mainland, and he got them, and asked them to say what the navy had picked up. As they ran to check, they too went dead. It only figured, Dael realized. They were jamming transmissions, trying to leave their opponents in the dark as much as possible. However, the fact that the mainland was hit so soon gave Dael a bit of pause. Yet it only took a moment for Cid to deduce the reason. Sybenia was taking jamming technology up to the "next level" by not using standard methods of cancelling out systems, but by sending a wireless virus to disable communications. How had Cid known? The Excalibur, being the ship-of-the-line for Esthar, had antivirus software that immediately detected and neutralized the same virus when it attempted to infect them.

He informed them that the ships could still use the signal lights they possessed, as they were older models. However, naturally, that was useless for anything that was out of the line of sight. If that wasn't enough, the sun was on its way up. Soon they would lose some effectiveness. Hence, Dael didn't feel too comfortable. She wasn't sure what was worse…having no information and waiting, or having information which might very well be telling them that the fleet was getting massacred and waiting.

Unable to do anything else, the group waited on the bridge. Only Ceja remained outside of it, preferring the open air…but also wanting to be able to listen for any approach. Dael was inclined to go out as well. She liked the sea air and the wind in her face. Yet she ruled against it eventually. She'd have all the time outside that she cared for soon enough. Quaren took the liberty of going to the kitchen and making some food for all of them, and Dael forced herself to eat hers. But despite the fact that Quaren was pretty good at cooking, even with the stock that Esthar gave the E.H.T….it didn't change the fact that they were getting closer to danger, and so most could barely eat. Everyone was quiet. No one felt too enthusiastic or cheerful as they watched the horizon.

Dael realized that she was headed right for a new challenge…a new "stepping stone". Her goal of becoming the greatest of Esthar's Hawks, so far away now, was receiving the next step in the line…and this one was a big one. She was definitely in the realm of "above and beyond the call of duty" here. They were putting their exceptional powers and abilities to a true test in every sense of the word. If they were more "normal", there wouldn't be any question that what they were doing was ludicrous. The Excalibur, for all its bells and whistles, didn't have a chance against this navy alone for very long. Yet they were taking it on in a desperate play for time. Chances of success were small to non-existent…

However, she realized, if they truly were exceptional…if they really were the team that everyone thought they were, and what she was beginning to realize they might be…and they made it through this, then they would be the stuff of legend. This sort of event against these sorts of odds were what they told you in the elementary stages of the Academy to rally your pride and spirits. The Battle of Fabul… The Battle of Cleyra… The Battle of Narshe… Times when a handful stood against many and lived to tell about it. And history had immortalized them. This would be the biggest turning point yet in her life. Even if she never gained any more ranks or awards for this…there would be no question that she and those with her were a force that could stand against the world.

It would be exactly what they needed in the war against Sybenia.

Her thoughts were broken when Cryder suddenly leaned his head forward. "Hold on to your britches, mateys…" He announced. "I think I'm beginnin' to see something on the horizon…"

Dael and the others looked to the pirate, but then looked back out to the ocean. The sun was nearly up by now. The sky was already red and orange, and at any moment it would start coming "out of the Medieval Ocean". Yet there was still enough darkness on the horizon in their direction to see it. Faint lights were beginning to pop up. Only a few were white. Most of them were red and yellow. Every so often, another one would light up. Most of them only stayed "on" for a few moments, and then faded again. For now, however, they were only dots.

"…That's not one of the islands?" Quaren asked.

"Ain't that lucky, lad." Cryder answered. "We aren't even aimed in the direction of the archipelago. We're seeing the battle."

For a brief moment, a unified chill went through everyone. Until now, they had been able to plan and plot for something very far away and "unreal". Now they were headed right into the thick of it. With that in mind, Dael soon forced her unease back and gave the order.

"Alright everyone, to your stations. Make sure all of your inter-deck relays are on." She looked to Cryder a moment later. "Steady as she goes." She looked to Cid afterward. "Try to raise Lamb or the navy on the horn one more time, then keep an eye on the sensors until we get a bit closer. I want some idea of what we're getting ourselves into before everything comes to a head."

Everyone immediately broke and began to go to their stations. Dael was among them, headed for the bulkhead. Cid was the only one who stayed behind, keeping his focus on the sensor console for a moment longer. Soon, it would be Cryder's duty both to steer the ship and keep an eye on that, and it would be a tall task…but something they'd just have to deal with if the going got tough. As for Dael, she went out on deck and headed for the front of the ship, right alongside Jalab, Taraketh, and Ceja.

Taraketh took position behind the front turrent. The other three moved up in front of it, although, due to the nature of the ship, were well out of the way of being hit by it by mistake. Using whatever materials were on hand, a half-sphere "bunker" had been erected on the front of the ship. It really only had room for two, so Dael let Jalab and Ceja move into it. After all, it wasn't like it would afford much protection other than from spurious debris. Furthermore, she wanted to be able to look out to the battle ahead and stay close to the relay from the front of the deck, which was positioned more out in the open and close to the guns. After that, she looked up ahead.

The sun began to cross the horizon soon afterward. With that, many of the lights faded from view…but the sounds of distant cannon fire and explosions began to echo over the resounding waves and wind. A bit farther along, and the fires became obvious again. Along with them came black dots…the ships. A bit further than that, and some stood out bigger than others…

Here, the realy suddenly clicked with a burst of static, and out came the voice of Cid. "We've crossed into the long range sensor region. Stand by…we'll be in the general sensor region in less than a minute."

Dael did as she was told. She wished that she had some more Mage Bullets. It would have given her a chance to contribute. As it was, Cid had been so busy he had only had time to craft a pair of Thundaga bullets. She had to make sure those counted. One was already loaded. She looked ahead as the dots slowly grew larger, eventually not becoming dots at all anymore. She also noticed something. One of the smaller islands was beginning to appear on the horizon. Not large enough to really have any practical use except a few homes or a dock, but getting closer. That meant the fight had to have already gone as far back as the archipelago. Calling to mind her protection spells, she readied to chant them…but not yet. Too soon, and they'd fade by the time they were shot at. Meanwhile, the battle grew louder, and details began to appear…

Finally, as the first bit of debris passed the ship, floating on the water, Cid came through again.

"Radio contact is patchy, but it's beginning to come through. Sensors reveal the situation. Of the 150 ships dispatched by the Sybenian Navy…141 are still fully active. Two are sunk, two are disabled, and five are burning. Of the 49 ships under the command of the Lamb Archipelago…" There was a pause, and Cid seemed to audibly swallow in a nervous gulp on the other end. "…19 are still active. All others have been sunk."

Not exactly encouraging news. Dael activated the switch on the relay and called back. "Are they responding to us yet?"

"Looks like they're ignoring us, Dael. After all, we only have the one ship. They're probably fine with waiting for us to come to them…"

"And THEN they blow the stuffing out of us…" Cryder's voice added.

"What's the status of the Lamb fleet?"

"Looks like they're in full retreat. My guess is they're trying to pull back to the shore defenses and the Archipelago…use that for cover. Either that or they're throwing in the towel… Probably not the latter case, though. Sybenian sent out about 40 ships to try and overtake them. They're all smaller and lighter craft."

Dael took that as a good sign. "Good. That mean's the Excalibur is more a match for them. Can we make the two fleets before Lamb is overtaken?"

"Heh, you kidding Dael? Even their fastest ships are tortoises to this girl."

"Great. Cryder?"

"Aye, lassie?"

"Take us right down the middle of the two, but closer to the Sybenians. Everyone else…prepare to fire."

Switching off the console, Dael went ahead and started using her magic. First she treated the people out in the open, including herself, and next she shifted to the ship itself. As this happened, the Excalibur changed course slightly and headed straight for a new heading, just to the west of the island that Dael spotted. The sounds of battle grew louder. Waves of heat periodically passed the ship, and more debris rolled by. Far to the west, Dael could see a row of dots that represented the bulk of the Sybenian fleet. However, a number of the shapes, forty, she guessed, were much closer. They were also getting bigger far faster than from the ship alone. Dael looked to the other side, and saw the nineteen remaining Lamb ships fleeing for the north side of the island. It looked as if the Sybenians would outrun them first, though. Only five of their ships even had a rear-facing turret that was capable of returning fire at long distance. The others were too short range. And the enemy was firing back at them too. Abruptly, two missiles went out from two separate destroyers. As the Excalibur got closer and closer, at last able to make out the difference between the ships, they connected and severely damaged, if not disabled, another one of the nineteen.

Dael switched the relay back on. "Is Bahamut ready to fire?"

"He's already targeting the nearest one, Dael."

The young officer was grateful for his initiative, and looked forward again. They entered the drag of the Lamb ships, and began to cross over it. The artillery units on the closing Sybenians became visible. More missiles shot out from other destroyers, but they weren't aimed at the fleet. They were aimed at what Dael presumed were batteries on the shore. Yet still she stared and prepared herself. Now, she chanted the last few protection spells she could muster, hoping they would do something against artillery shells. The numbers on the sides of the Sybenian ships started showing up, although they weren't legible. A few more seconds ticked by as the noise of the artillery shifting on both the Lamb fleet and the Sybenian one became audible…

Finally, they struck.

A hissing roar erupted from the Excalibur as its first Thunderbird missile was released. Yet even at went off, Jalab went to work himself. Immediately, he stood up, planted his feet, pressed his palms together, and focused. As before, his aura blazed…although this time, he seemed to be taking the time and effort to put a lot into it, enough to where he almost gleamed with an electric blue light. This was even stronger than the one Dael had witnessed in Garrado. A moment later, and he shoved his palms forward…and a blazing blue light, blinding to look at, rocketed out from the Excalibur. It had so much power she felt the ship shift…a result of Cid correcting course to compensate for it. The beam rocketed across the water for a few moments even as the rocket itself shot by…and finally, at roughly the same time, both made contact with the nearest destroyer.

A burning blue blast went off from the front as the missile impacted the bow, the missile landed and annihilated the two turrets on deck in a brilliant blast. The dual attacks were so large that the destroyer was halted and rocked violently as inertia almost sent it crashing into the water. A loud sound echoed over the ocean, and everyone felt the ripple from the twin blast. Smoke fountained from the missile, but the light cleared rapidly on the hull below…revealing a gaping hole taking in water fast. There was no doubt the ship had been critically damaged.

"Ha! Not bad for an opening volley, mateys!" Cryder's voice rang out.

Without pause, Jalab immediately began to produce another blast. As for the Excalibur, Dael heard the missile launcher retreat to the inside and the turrets become active. Taraketh now came forward and began to summon the first Guardian Force, and their ship began to near the crossing point. While the more distant destroyers continued to pursue the Lamb fleet…the six nearest ones paused. Dael suppressed a smile. They hadn't considered the incoming Excalibur a threat. They had to have realized it was Esthar by now, and no Esthar ship had missile-launching capabilities. This was a whole new ball game. Yet things were just starting.

As the ship finally crossed in front of the first damaged destroyer, taking in more water, both artillery units fired. From this range, it took only a moment before two more blasts of fire smashed into its already gaping wound. At the same time, Jalab fired again, this time unleashing his beam of mystic energy on the third one in line and soon blowing a hole through the starboard. If that wasn't enough, Taraketh finished summoning, and the sky went dark momentarily before a portal opened, and the bright and dazzling form of Quetzacoatl shot out and straight for the attacking fleet. A moment later, and she fired off her beak, striking six of the ships with her terrible lightning. The one that took the "main" bolt soon suffered massive damage to its bridge and started a fire, while the accessory bolts shorted out whatever they touched. Destroyers were built to have lightning rods of a sort on them, but Quetzacoatl's lightning ignored the laws of physics and attacked wherever she willed. As she vanished, Bahamut fired again, lighting up another ship, and soon Jalab fired off a third blast to tear another wound into another ship.

As the Excalibur raced past far faster than any other ship out there, the assault continued. Bahamut fired off both guns four more times, spreading fire and eruptions on other ships. Jalab let his own "aura cannon" pound holes into the sides. Even as he got sweaty and began to pant, he continued to fire just as strongly as before. Taraketh followed up Quetzacoatl with Shiva, who pelted the decks with deadly diamond dust, not only clearing all personnel off the decks, either directly or through making them retreat, but freezing the guns and launchers on several ships, rendering them inoperative. The combined assault and the speed of the Excalibur caught the navy completely off guard. They were almost hapless and unable to respond to this initial pounding, and quite a bit of damage was done in response by one little ship.

Once they passed through the first time, they had left an impact. The Sybenians were slowing, not having expected this onslaught. The Lamb ships continued to pull away as well, but, for the moment, Sybenia was matching them in speed, not getting closer or farther behind. It was a start, but not exactly what Dael had in mind. She went back to the relay and switched it on again.

"Alright, bring us around for another pass!"

Even as she said this, however, a large "whoosh" went out from the nearest intact destroyer on Sybenia's side. Dael looked up in response, and was just in time to see that one of the missiles had been fired. This one definitely wasn't headed for the Lamb fleet, either. This one was directed at them. Tensing up a bit, she straightened herself and readied to cast more spells. However, she doubted that it would do much good against a missile. They had to use countermeasures. If it was heat-seeking, they could use flares. If sonar, they could use foil. However…she dreaded what would happen if they used a guided one. The only defense would be to try and shoot it down…

Or so she thought.

Cid began to move the ship around, but with its speed, such wasn't exactly an easy matter, and it cut quite a wide arch. The missile, however, followed them perfectly…meaning it was guided. Yet as it came in, something fired from the top of the command tower. It looked like a tiny metal glider…a drone. Dael didn't think much of it at first. After all, most destroyer missiles didn't bother keying in on those. Yet two things soon caught her attention. One was that the drone flew away quite rapidly…shooting through the air at a streaking clip. The second…the missile did swerve and went after it. A moment later, it was at a safe distance, and the two connected and erupted. The Excalibur was soon rocked violently and heat and debris fell over them, but the protection spells were enough to slough off any damage. The ship soon stabilized, completed its circuit, and came back around.

Dael was overwhelmed. She hadn't expected that. However, a noise soon came over the relay.

"Worked like a charm!" Cid's voice cheered. "I knew I had cracked the coding signals for the Sybenian guidance systems! And added to a modified drone…the perfect countermeasure!"

"…Cid, I'd taking you to the nearest dive after this is over and I ain't lettin' you go to bed until you're piss drunk and singin' karaoke until 0300, got it?" Cryder responded over the line.

Dael switched her own relay on. "Cid, you're wonderful. Cryder, get off the line and let's keep it clear. The fight's just getting started."

Soon the Excalibur had spun around and was doing the same. Although both Jalab and Taraketh were looking rather tired by the time they had completed it, and Cid had been forced to get to work keeping the weapon systems online as well as the engines, another round of firepower has blasted the front line of the enemy fleet. Between the Guardian Forces, two missiles, the guns, and Jalab's ability…most of them were at least partially damaged, and three were critically damaged…maybe even disabled. The enemy had tried to respond, but Quaren was now putting his full contributions to bear. He managed to negate every missile they sent their way, even when they switched targeting methods. He had countermeasures fire almost the second the missiles left their batteries. That left the artillery, but even those couldn't hit thanks to the efforts of Bahamut, Jalab, and Taraketh to prioritize the deck guns. In short, the Sybenians were soon left frustrated and in pain. They had almost ground to a halt from this impossibly fast little ship. The Lamb fleet had managed to pull up alongside the island and was quickly vanishing around it, taking cover.

As the Excalibur finished its pass and began to arch around again, however, Dael looked back and behind them. She saw at least eight of the Sybenian ships were breaking off, ones that hadn't yet been damaged. They were smaller and faster ones, even more so than the rest of the fast ships they were with…and all of them made a heading for the Excalibur. She had a feeling all of them were arming their launchers as well.

Seeing this, Dael turned on the relay again. "I'd say we got their attention. Now let's try to keep it."

"That's going to be a little difficult, Dael…" Cid responded. "We're going to need to cut engine speed. We were already running full tilt to get here, and those last two passes knocked the side engines for a loop. And since I can't service them from on board, we're going to have to slow down and let them cool."

"So we smack a hornet's nest with a stick and then we drop into a walk to get away from the hive?" Cryder asked. "Heh…no one ever said this would be easy."

"Dael!"

The voice of Ceja caught the woman's attention, and she looked back down in front of her. She saw that Jalab had gone for his staff, and was now balancing on it. He was heaving and panting. Ceja, on her part, was bracing him with one arm. She looked to him anxiously, then up to Dael. "Sir Tierras is exhausted. He needs time to rest."

"I've kind of made myself dizzy as well…" Taraketh added from the other side of the artillery unit. "I think I may need to break out an Ether or two before I can summon again…"

As the "icing on the cake", Dael heard a rushing noise. She turned and looked to the eight that had broken off, and saw that four of the destroyers were firing at once. The missiles, however, had only gotten about a hundred yards away from the barrels before the other four fired in unison as well. Even as this happened, the Excalibur began to slow.

The commander let out an exhale. Here comes the "fun" part…

"Alright everyone! Let's show them that they can't dig this thorn out of their side so easily! Quaren, time to really man up! Bahamut, it's all you now! Counterattack with the missiles! Cryder, we may be slower, but we're still more maneuverable and quick than anything they've ever dealt with! Let's go!"

As the missiles came in, Bahamut began to reactivate their own launcher. As for the countermeasures, Quaren began to respond as rapidly as he could. He fired off three more drones, taking out three of the incoming missiles, but still leaving five behind. A moment later…and two more bullets rang out as Quaren shifted tactics. Two more incoming missiles were shot out of the sky, impossible as it seemed for anyone to hit a missile from the distance, with that speed, that shielding, and only a rifle with armor-piercing bullets. Yet even then, that still left three. However, the Excalibur wasn't out either. Immediately, the ship swerved and began an irregular "serpentine" pattern. Although it jostled everyone on deck quite a bit…it wasn't without effect. Even guided, the missiles were equipped only to target ships that were moving at "standard" speeds, not one as fast or maneuverable as the Excalibur. Two of the missiles went wide on one side and crashed into the ocean, sending out plumes of water. The third impacted on the opposite side…a bit too closer for comfort, and everyone felt the heat and the blast of the water as the entire ship was rocked violently. Large pieces of metal debris slammed into the side of the boat and pelted them from above. Dael herself felt a missile fragment hit her on the side of the head with a glancing blow. However…her protection spells were still in effect, and stronger than when she began. The ship only took a few dents, and even the blow that struck Dael felt just like being hit by a softball. It didn't mean she didn't fall to the deck and grit her teeth in a bit of pain…but she remained conscious and alert.

A missile went off in response from the Excalibur. As it shot through the sky, and Cryder evened out the course and began to drive the ship through the wake of the blasts and straight once again, Dael saw the nearest destroyer attempt to counter it with devices of their own. They deployed foil balls, no doubt meaning to confuse the target signal. Yet, again to Dael's surprise, the missile shot right past them with only slight wobbling. The targeting systems on the Excalibur were cutting edge and barely affected by the countermeasures. The missile still hit the target, obliterating the launcher of the target destroyer.

It was a good move…but Dael knew that, by now, they had spent half of their payload. There wasn't enough to neutralize the weapons of all of their pursuers…at least, not like this. Jalab and Taraketh were still recovering as well. Yet Cryder was going into action. Immediately, he moved the Excalibur closer to the same island that the fleet had rounded. He continued to get closer and closer…until they passed the shallows…at least, what most navies considered "shallows". The Excalibur rolled harmlessly over them. The ship's design was allowing it to "skim" over water rather than sail through it, meaning it had already gained a permanent distance advantage on their pursuers. Even matching them in speed, the enemy couldn't pursue them. After that, Cryder hugged the irregular coastline. Soon, the ship was swerving and waving again as it followed the jagged outline of the alley, going to and fro, past land, behind it, then out to sea, and in the open again.

A moment later, the remaining seven intact launchers fired. Again, Quaren employed the countermeasures. To his credit, he saw that they readjusted to a new type of weapon, firing ones that were heat seekers now instead, causing him to have to quickly shift to flares to take them out. Even so, he only managed to squeeze off two shots to take out two of them, leaving five more in the wake. Yet that didn't matter. Cryder may have slowed, but that was a relative term. They were easily outstripping a common speedboat as they rounded the bends of the island again and again, and the missiles arched down to hit the craft…only to impact against a rocky cliff just as the Excalibur vanished from view.

While hidden, Jalab finally hoisted himself up. Using his staff as a form of crutch, he limped a few steps before he got his momentum going. After that, he went into a full walk for the rear of the ship. Meanwhile, the artillery units came online as the missile launcher pulled back. As the Excalibur swung back out again, Dael looked over the edge and was just in time to see Jalab focus and once again build his power to maximum. The seven pursuing destroyers became visible, and he quickly fired another beam at the nearest one. If that wasn't enough, the artillery units thundered again. The Excalibur was moving fast and from side-to-side. Normally, such a shot would have been impossible. Yet as they ducked behind cover again…both Jalab's beam and the artillery shells impacted on the ship in the lead, doing more heavy damage to it.

Their pursuers were at a loss as they chased the Excalibur around the island. Missiles were now almost useless. On the third volley, Quaren had learned enough to target only the ones most likely to hit, and the ultra-fast swerving of the Excalibur left them clear of everything else. Their only solution to this would be to get close enough to use their turrets, but the Excalibur had the advantage on them in that regard. Even with all the swerving, it was impossible for them to close to distance to it without going at full speed, and if they did that they wouldn't be able to avoid running aground on the shallows in time before they took damage. Meanwhile, Jalab and Bahamut continued to pound away at them. No one attack sequence did too terrible damage, but as the ship rounded the small island, eventually two destroyers were enflamed or disabled, and two had their weapons damaged to where they couldn't fire, leaving only four intact destroyers to pursue them.

It was a good move so far, but they needed to keep it up. Dael looked forward again to their path. By now, they were headed north again. As it turned out, another island was nearby and nearly touching this one. It was possible they were actually part of the same land mass underwater. Yet she saw the narrowest point was a tiny strip of land up in the distance, scarcely large enough to let two destroyers through at a time. The Excalibur would hit it in about two more minutes, shortly after the next volley.

The commander took it as a good sign. Hopefully, they had irritated the intact destroyers into trying to chase them through it. If they passed, they might be dumb enough to think they could navigate it as well…and would run themselves aground instead. Even if they didn't, they'd lose them. There was no way they could follow them through there.

Yet as soon as the ship rounded another turn in the coast and fired again, Dael saw something a bit unusual. Four of the destroyers broke off. Unfortunately, one was in the lead, so for the first time Bahamut missed that day. Only two of them continued to pursue. Dael looked a bit confused at that. There was no way they could hope to hit them with only two of them firing. And they still weren't anywhere in a good spot to hit with the guns. Apparently, they seemed to realize that as well. As the other destroyers went wide and accelerated, looking to be trying to go around the adjacent island, the others didn't even try firing more missiles. Neither did they stop their pursuit, however. They only continued to push onward, forcing the Excalibur to keep moving.

As the gap neared, Dael continued to stare a bit longer. Were they going to try and make the gap too? That would never work…and she had a hard time believing the naval commanders were this stupid. She was moments from going to the relay, when it already turned on.

"Lass, I can't read these sensors as good as Cid…" Cryder's voice suddenly came through. "But there's something up ahead on the north coast. Don't know what, but the sensors are picking up something unusual…especially the short range ones."

The Esthar's Hawk paused after hearing this. She considered this a moment…trying to think back to the earlier navy actions. She had been so busy with the fighting and Cryder had been manning the helm that maybe something had happened on the sensors that no one had caught. She could only think of one option off the top of her head….and she didn't like it.

She activated the relay. "Cryder, get us off of the coast and increase speed. Get us through the gap. Jalab, get back in front. Taraketh, get ready to use another Guardian Force. Bahamut, stand down on guns and warm up the launcher."

There was a small amount of puzzlement on the part of everyone, but soon after they all began to run about and do their tasks as ordered. Jalab, having had another breather, was able to move up to the front fairly readily although he was still covered with sweat. Ceja followed on his heels. Taraketh prepared to chant, but without a target, he couldn't even begin. The gap itself soon came into clean view as the Excalibur left the coast and aimed right for it, soon gaining a bit of speed.

It wasn't long after moving out that the pursuing destroyers fired. But with only two rockets, Quaren dealt with them easily. Soon, they were nearing the rocky gap so quickly that they were forced to start breaking off, but they only did so once the Excalibur reached the point where it couldn't make a U-turn in time. Dael took note of this as well, and didn't like it. She forgot about the pursuers and looked fully ahead. "Everyone, get ready!" She called out.

"Ready for what?" Taraketh yelled back over the roar of the engines.

As the launcher redeployed, the group moved through the gap. The rock walls rose on either side of them for a moment, before the open ocean began to form on the other side…along with one of the larger Sybenian destroyers, moving perpendicular and looking to use its thicker hull to disable the Excalibur by running into it. Dael and the others gaped in shock as the deck of the ship neared.

Dael's hand mashed down on the relay button. "Evasive!"

"No sh't, lass!"

Had the Excalibur not been so advanced with the "water braking" system, they would have collided. Yet Cryder rapidly threw them on, and the group was nearly flung off their feet as the ship rapidly decreased speed and began to turn about like an anchor had just been dropped in the ocean. The enemy destroyer continued to come in. It had taken on ballast, however. It had been purposely lowering itself to this level for this reason. As the Excalibur dramatically slowed and turned, the result barely avoided crashing into the destroyer, at the expense of pulling it directly alongside the enemy ship for a short time. And Dael soon saw that they had had been expecting this, as both of the fore turrent swiveled around and took aim to open up the deck like a firecracker. Dael's face paled. She swore mentally…thinking that would be the last thing she would ever do…

Yet she was only able to look down the barrel of one turret for a moment…before a whirling cutter shot out and sliced off a good portion of it, including half of the stock and one of the barrels.

The young officer reacted in surprise, and spun around to the front of the ship, just in time to see Jalab do something odd…essentially use his own strength to give Ceja a boost, and launch her onto the enemy vessel. From this distance, with their combined super strength, it was a snap. Soon, the woman sailed through the air and landed right on the deck of the enemy ship, just as her cutter came back around, slicing through the second turret's left barrel, and to her grasp.

Dael, Taraketh, and Quaren were all stunned at what they saw, and Cryder barely managed to remember to get the ship moving again. As their two decks met and scraped momentarily, Ceja attacked savagely. She went to one turret and let out a storm of axe strikes on it so fast and rapid it was like a blur, seemingly impossible. Dael thought nothing of it for a moment, until she realized it was familiar… The way she moved, it was almost like the rotating limbs of a Cactuar as she hit it. Effective too, as she pierced the turret array again and again until it was rendered completely inoperative. After that, she snapped around, leapt to the side, and drove her axe hard into the opposite turret. To Dael's surprise, she almost thought she heard a "doink"…before the entire turret was ripped partially off of its moorings and knocked askew.

Ceja seemed to have exerted a lot of effort to pull this off, but if that wasn't enough, she snapped her head around to the control tower. Gritting her teeth, she swung her axe around one more time before sending it flying at it, just as the Excalibur gained enough speed and angle to start pulling away again. As the axe sliced into the antennas and relays, not to mention the structure itself, Ceja snapped back to the E.H.T. ship, and immediately ran for the side. By now, some of the crewmen of the destroyer were trying to implement smaller arms on deck, or run out with weapons of their own to fight back, and a few shots were squeezed off. But thanks to the protection spells, the bullets either glanced or left only shallow wounds before stopping. In either case, Ceja didn't stop. She soon reached the edge and leapt through the air back into the Excalibur moments before it was too late. As a touch of "showing off", her arm went up and snatched her axe out of the air as it returned before she touched down on deck again. She went for a bit of a tumble on landing, but snapped to her feet again as they pulled away.

Dael was overwhelmed as they continued to pull away. The enemy destroyer was only one in series that had been coming around the north end, hoping to head the Excalibur off. However, at the moment, it could do little other than just watch. What more, the other ships behind it soon had to drop speed to avoid a collision, or try and move around it. Finally, as a parting shot, Taraketh's aura flashed, and another portal opened…this time dropping the king-sized Tonberry on the deck of the ship, who immediately got to work by tapping his lantern. Despite its small size, it began to belch monstrous flames all over the deck, which immediately spread like oil fires on landing. The ship was soon aflame as the Excalibur increased speed and left both it and its companions in the dust.

"Ha! This is one for the record books, lads!" Cryder's voice came over the intercom. "I don't think even Gill and Heck were that crazy!"

As for Dael, she blinked a few more times, before she managed to look down to the deck again. Jalab was near Ceja, who was hunched over and catching her breath from that stunt. However, after a few moments, she looked up to Dael, and gave a smile. The commander looked back a short while, but then managed to smile as well. It seemed Jalab was right, after all…

Dael stood up and looked out. By now, a good portion of the fleet had focused its attention on the Excalibur. It was sending out even more destroyers, the quick kind, to deal with it. They could still afford to send some of their fleet after the Lamb ships, but their momentary diversion to attack the Excalibur had bought the fleet some time. Now, it had a good distance on the bulk of the fleet, and the ones that were still on their heels could not only be answered with return fire, but they were starting to wander into the areas that had ground gun emplacements. While they were by no means out of danger, and by no means necessarily past the "worst part"…they were doing better than any of them could have hoped. Between the Excalibur's speed and their "firepower", they were actually making a difference in this fight.

At last, Dael turned on the relay and spoke into it. "…Get us back into combat, Cryder. Cid, when you get a moment, try and sneak a look at the long range sensors and radio messages. I want to make sure the 'cavalry' from Esthar is on their way…"

The next hour went by quickly and fiercely.

Cid kept the engines running as smoothly as possible, and again and again the Excalibur charged at the enemy, gained a few "pursuers", and lured them either into rocks or through narrow channels or down the barrels of shoreline defenses. Often, they charged a group of ships that were being hounded by Sybenia and broke their attack. After a while, the enemy navy realized that the Excalibur had the advantage of speed and countermeasures, and tried to ignore it. But thanks to Jalab and Taraketh, even when Bahamut fired off their last rocket only 15 minutes after escaping the ambush, they were still inflicting a great deal of damage. And any ship that got too close bore the wrath of Ceja, whose crazy "storming" tactics paid off, unorthodox and insane as they might have been. By the end of the hour, the Excalibur alone had disabled 10 destroyers…unheard of in naval combat for a ship so small and poorly armed.

Dael imagined the tough little ship had to be the worst nightmare of the navy. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't disable it. And while it might have only been a bug compared to their size and firepower, it was one that wouldn't stop biting, and eventually waged so much damage that it was leaving an impact. The Excalibur managed to frustrate almost every attack maneuver they tried to launch on the remnants of the Lamb fleet, enabling them to regroup enough to counterattack again and again with the backing of the shore artillery units. By luring them into the archipelago's outer islands, they were causing the enemy no end of trouble, especially since the light Excalibur could go everywhere they couldn't. They had managed to add another eleven disabled ships to the total the Excalibur gave. While the Sybenians continued to push forward and took out every shore artillery unit they came across, their victory was steadily going from a rout to a mere win. Pretty soon, it would become a costly victory…and anymore than that and the Sybenians might even have to break off.

One thing was certain, and Dael knew that the enemy had to know it by now as well. A few minutes ago, relays had finally picked up incoming beacons. They weren't yet on long-range sensors…but the reinforcements from Esthar were coming. With them, the Lamb fleet, the Excalibur, and still a long chain of islands worth to go before a major population center was hit…the Sybenians would realize that they would be hurting severely by the time they finally made it to a place to launch a decent invasion. Perhaps too severely…enough to break off the assault.

It would be a hollow victory, to be sure. After all, the Sybenians had three times as many ships ready to launch. They might only manage to buy Lamb a few days worth of life. But it would be a victory…a situation where the mighty Sybenian war machine was turned back. And for now, Dael had to admit, it would be welcome.

Jalab was barely able to stand. Ceja was supporting him as best she could, but she was quite weary herself, and she had a few injuries sustained from some of her previous attacks. Bahamut could only man the deck guns now, and despite his pauses the constant firing was overheating them, and they would have jammed by now if not for Cid's intervention. Even so, they had only 10 shells left, and at one shot per turret that meant only five more shots at the most. Taraketh was downing his last Ether, but it was clear that even with it he might not be able to pull off another major summon or spell. He looked like he was moments from passing out…or ODing on the concoctions. Quaren also informed them that they had only 10% of their original flare supplies left, 5% foils, and a single drone.

For all those reasons, the Excalibur was finally pulling back. After fighting them through the thick of a chain of islands, the defending forces had lured the massive Sybenian fleet to the opposite side, where a large expanse was between them and the next series of islands. Most of the Lamb fleet had redeployed here, taking in two spaces between islands that served as "junctions". It made for a good bottleneck of sorts. From this position, the Lamb fleet could respond en masse to any attacker. The only access points to the west of it and north and south were all only accessible either to Lamb's smaller fleet or Sybenian destroyers. Their larger battleships and aircraft carriers couldn't get through unless they went "right down the throat", where six old shoreline artillery units were supplementing the fleet. Right now, the Excalibur was 'hiding' behind the older and larger craft. Although they hadn't yet gotten any ship-to-ship transmissions through the jamming, it was pretty clear that the Lamb fleet was more than willing to act as a shield after all the Longsword -Class ship had done for them.

From this position, Dael could look out, far beyond the Lamb navy, and see on the horizon where the Sybenian fleet was regrouping. It took some time, after all. The larger battleships and carriers not only were slower, but had to move around the islands to get there. For now, however, they seemed to be holding position, at least as best as Dael could tell. Obviously, they realized that they needed to rethink their strategy. That was alright…they could use a breather themselves.

On that note, Dael turned on the relay. "Cid, how do we look?"

"Well, it's a good thing we stopped when we did, because if the engine got anymore fried we'd barely have the speed of a rowboat…" Cid answered. "She's tough, but even athletic girls overwork their muscles sometime. The prow turret is completely overheated. The loading mechanism has deformed. I should have made the lag time longer. Anyway, I shifted the last five shells in that one to the aft turret, but only firing one shell at a time means we won't bite as deep in the next tussle. And we haven't made it completely unscathed either. There's one to two inches of water down here. Your protection spells are good, Dael, but we couldn't expect to just shrug off this navy's payload. Pumps are working…but I'm thinking the girl may have one more run in her before we really start feeling the burn. We'll need to get her to Lamb for repairs after that."

"Alright. Have you had a chance to watch the sensors?"

"The relays are starting to come back on line, though slowly. Seems the Lamb navy has had the chance to counter their signal. General transmissions say that the ETA of the first ship of the Esthar reinforcements is 40 minutes away."

"It's all but in the bag, lass." Cryder threw in. "The only way they won't spread themselves thin is by coming right at us. They try going around and the Lamb navy has enough time to respond. They go wider, and they'll never make it anywhere in time before the reinforcements get here. Provided they can make enough of a difference to give the Sybenians a headache…we might just win the day."

"Although this is a rather grim analogy…" Taraketh spoke up from behind Dael. She turned to him, and saw him leaning against the deactivated turret. Tired as he looked, he seemed to have overheard the relay. "…This is just like back during the War of the Magi. Now you see that while guns and bombs have their uses, a few Guardian Forces can turn the tide of impossible odds."

Dael gave a shrug in response. "I'm inclined to agree with you. However, it's not the way of Esthar's Hawks to start 'lying down on the job'." She looked back to the relay. "Cid, what about the Sybenians? They have to be picking up on this stuff too. Something tells me they aren't going to just sit around and wait for things to get even harder for them."

There were a few moments of pause on the other end.

Dael looked expectantly. "…Cid?"

"I've got something now, commander…" Cid answered uncertainly. "Although…it isn't much of something…"

"What?"

"Two aircraft carriers are moving forward, straight for the gap."

"What's the escort look like?"

"Three Knight-Class destroyers…and that's it."

The commander blinked a moment. "…Repeat, Cid. I didn't copy."

"They're being escorted by three Knight-Class destroyers."

"…That's all? Are you sure they aren't Deathknight-Class?"

"No, Dael. I've seen these things sail past the port countless times. One single-barrel, turret, one launcher on each."

"…Cid, that doesn't make any sense. Those ships went out of vogue for Sybenia before the depression. They only use them as accessory ships to take hits meant for the battleships. They're a bit speedier than Deathknight-Class and Darkknight-Class, but that's all they have going for them."

"All I'm telling you is what I'm seeing, Dael."

The commander looked up. Already, five of the shapes seemed a bit bigger, and two of those much bigger. It looked just like what Cid was saying. But what gave? Even Lamb's basic warships were superior to the three destroyers they were sending forward. And they couldn't carry out a campaign on Lamb just by sacrificing two of their aircraft carriers. It had to be some sort of trick or trap…bait for something. Yet even without radioing Cid, she could tell that the rest of the Sybenian fleet on the horizon wasn't moving. They were holding their ground. She knew it would only be a matter of time before they crossed the 'point-of-no-return', the zone where the Lamb fleet could move out and intercept and retreat before Sybenia could send reinforcements. What was going on?

At any rate, it wasn't long before there was a response.

"They've crossed the PONR and they're still coming at present speed. Five of the two-turret destroyers from Lamb are moving to intercept."

Dael looked on at the Lamb fleet. Sure enough, a minute or so later, she distinctly saw five ships moving from the ranks and headed for the enemy. She frowned at the sight. This was too easy. An Esthar Hawk was trained never to go after something so easy in a combat situation. She activated the relay. "Are radios jack free yet, Cid? We need to tell them to stand down."

There was a pause on the other end. "Not sure we have that authority, Dael…"

"We can try. Is the line unjammed or not?"

"No, we still can't overcome it yet."

"As soon as the rest of the ship's systems are taken care of, get on that."

Dael switched the relay off and looked up ahead again. By now, everyone else on deck was as well. There was little else to do, after all. The five soon came out of the ranks and moved to intercept. None of the rest of the Sybenian fleet moved to do anything about it. They just sat there and waited, watching as the three destroyers and two carriers advanced. Dael stared on, thinking the enemy should at least be prepping.

Ceja, after looking at this for a while, looked back to Dael. "I am unfamiliar with naval combat, but is this normal? To send out the 'best' of either fleet in a five-on-five match?"

"It's not." Taraketh answered for Dael. "This is too unusual… Even without a military background, I can tell this isn't good."

"Secret blade?" Jalab suggested.

"One would think they have a secret weapon, Sir Tierras…" Dael responded as she looked on. "But I don't see anything. Even their guns aren't coming online, though I can't tell for sure from this distance. Even so, they have to be entering missile range by now."

"Well, even if the Sybenians aren't willing to fire, I'm sure Lamb is." Taraketh answered. "They have to be getting in range soon…"

Dael was about to answer, when she paused…as did everyone else both on the ship and the rest of the Lamb fleet. All of them noticed something together.

Abruptly, the sky had grown much darker. Not over them, however…but over the incoming ships. Clouds seemed to form from nothingness, and they rapidly grew dark and thick, lowering in altitude and becoming the characteristic "anvil head". No sooner had that happened than the clouds began to whip around and circle, churning and moving over one another, and then breaking into a rotation. From this distance, the waves began to pick up, and the sea over the incoming Lamb ships grew more turbulent. It quickly grew more violent from there, the clouds beginning to rumble with thunder and turn over each other, building in intensity…

Dael went wide-eyed. "Oh no…"

Taraketh himself was gaping at the sight, but looked to Dael. "What is it?"

"I've seen this before…" The commander stammered. "You were right, Taraketh… A few Guardian Forces can turn the tide…and I think Sybenian is about to make that clear…"

Before Taraketh could inquire as to this, everyone on board got an eyeful.

"Oh sh't…" Cryder remarked through the relay. "Really wish that Sorceress lass was here right now…"

Abruptly, the clouds increased speed…and formed a funnel. It shot down from the sky and hit the water, making a waterspout. But it didn't stay that way long. It quickly grew in power and intensity, churning and mixing and casting up more and more water as the bottom increased in diameter. As it did, the sky billowed and tumbled louder and louder, until the water began to churn and rock with progressively larger waves. First they were ten feet….then twenty…then thirty. The Lamb boats were soon being rocked violently. They tried to scatter and get away, but the ever-growing tornado got larger and larger, actually forming a whirlpool in the water. Two of the destroyers were caught, and soon dragged back in as the waves drew higher and higher, thrashing them about like boats in a tub with a child kicking. And as the wind whipped harder and harder…eventually it started to tear pieces off of the destroyers while dunking large portions of them and ripping them back into the air again.

However, that wasn't all. One of the ships moving away suddenly began to act "strange". The signal beacons began to flash erratically. The guns and launcher began to move about weird. The anchors were dropped and severed, and the ship began to drift afterward. Moments later, fires suddenly began to break out on deck, and people jumped ship. Dael saw this…and was suddenly grateful that the radios weren't working. Something was driving the crew insane. Finally…it did fire a missile. However, it went straight into the sky, hung there a moment, then spiraled around…and began to come straight back down to its location…

The last two ships looked to get clear, before something new happened. A thick, noxious, disgusting-looking mist suddenly began to pour out of one of the destroyers at an alarming rate. It rapidly expanded at speeds that seemed to defy physics, growing into a large, billowing, chaotic cloud. It made Dael want to vomit just to look at it, considering all of its putrid colors. And it continued to get larger and larger, becoming almost a fog of the sickening substance…until it was large enough to cover both destroyers. At that, it left the ship and began to billow out for them, moving almost like a living blob of foulness. The ships were helpless to turn away before it swept over both of them…

The storm grew more and more violent…but stayed localized to both ships. At last, it forced one under the water and held it there. As for the other, it snapped it in half through the sheer power, sending out an echo of metal breaking over the entire area. Once that was done, it finally eased up and pulled back. It wasn't needed anymore, as the other destroyer soon sank into the water. The missile came down and hit the launcher. Someone must have armed the other missiles, for the entire thing immediately went up, setting off a chain reaction that turned the entire destroyer into a fireball. The toxic cloud moved away from the other two destroyers…and what it left behind was horrid. The ships literally seemed to be rotting and rusting away before their eyes. Soon, they were sinking into the ocean as they disintegrated into almost nothingness. Dael could only imagine what had happened to the crew…

Ceja uttered a curse in her native dialect. Jalab stated a prayer.

"Great Aerith…" Taraketh murmured. "It's them."

"The Corvids." Dael confirmed.

As the five Lamb destroyers were reduced to nothingness, the five approaching ships moved out. One began to go south. The other went north. The final one continued to lead the destroyers right for the middle region. Alarm lights went off from all of the Lamb ships. Soon, they all ignited to life, beginning to pull back. However, they were too slow. The Knight-Classes could outrun them, especially now that their defense had just been turned into a trap. Dael wasn't sure what they had planned exactly, but she was sure one ship was going to come from a north channel and the other through a south channel. They were going to pin them from three sides…then unleash their powers again.

Taraketh snapped back up to Dael. "I'll admit, commander…I didn't really believe you about Jay's power until now. They all are able to perform magic almost on the level of the Sorceresses themselves. If that's the case, then they'll tear the remains of the Lamb fleet apart…and us with them."

"Looks like they're headed for us now, lass…" Cryder's voice came on over the relay, sounding uneasy. "They've got a bit of a delay goin'…but not much. Besides, even if they arrive in sequence instead of all together, we're still sunk. There isn't a ship that can stand up to somethin' like that. Makes what we're doing look like a pea shooter…"

Dael looked on for a moment longer. If they pulled back now…likely even if they stayed…the Lamb fleet was doomed. Those three alone could take out the whole remnant, and they wouldn't even need any backup. The rest of the fleet would be in perfect condition to rout the rest of the archipelago. And even if Esthar got here in time, they'd be destroyed just as easily. Those three were too strong. Perhaps if Sorceress Cybus was here… But that was no good. In the time it took to find her and bring her, they'd be bombing the main island. And the Excalibur couldn't take the fleet alone.

That left only one thing.

The commander turned on the relay. "Cid, what's the nearest one of those three destroyers?"

"Hold on… Uh, the one in front of us."

"How about the one that will reach us first?"

"Oh… The south one."

"Alright, here's the deal." Dael stated. "Everyone get below deck. Bahamut, stay manning the guns. Cid, we'll need as much speed as the engines can give us. Cryder, take us through the channel its going for and straight for that destroyer."

There was a unified pause, both from those on deck, who looked to Dael strangely, as well as those on the bridge.

"…What idea has gotten into your head, lass?"

"That destroyer has an Elite Hound on it. So we're taking it down and the Elite Hound with it."

Ceja was too much of a warrior to shy away from a battle. That said…she gaped a bit at Dael. Jalab did much the same. However, Taraketh made no secret of his shock. Neither did those on the other end of the radio.

"Have you lost your mind, lass?"

"Don't get me wrong, commander. I want to see those sadistic individuals stopped the same as anyone else." Taraketh answered. "But even if we were all at our best I wouldn't be sure we could win. And Jalab, Ceja, and myself are rather drained from the battle."

"I'm not sure Jalab can even fire another one of his energy moves." Ceja threw in.

"And Dael…even if they could, those Elite Hounds just showed they can take out a full-sized destroyer before it even gets into firing range." Cid's voice came over the line. "There's no way we can get close enough to fight back."

Dael, however, didn't break. "Everyone, I'm still commander in this situation, so carry out my orders. We're not out of this yet. Cryder, stick to the shoreline and the shallows as you make your way there. We need to keep all the advantages we can get. I want the only way they can see us coming is visually."

Everyone paused a moment longer. They looked uneasily to one another. At length, however, they realized that even if they weren't in a task force under Dael's command, they weren't going to refuse her anyway. Grudgingly, those on deck turned and began to head back to the bulkhead for the inner ship.

"…Aye, lass." Cryder finally stated, even as the Excalibur began to turn and increase speed.

"Sure thing, Dael…" Cid added with a sigh.

The commander couldn't really blame them for being uneasy. Based on their two previous encounters, this was just plain suicide. However, if they never had to actually face an Elite Hound face-to-face…they might have a chance yet. She only hoped that Bahamut could keep up his gunner "winning-streak". A lot of this depended on it. At any rate, everyone began to clear the deck. Ceja began to help Jalab limp over to the bulkhead. Taraketh started to follow behind, but he had scarcely rounded the turret when he paused and looked up to Dael. "…Aren't you coming?"

"Once we get closer." She stated. "I still have enough power to cast protection spells, and that's what I'm going to do."

Taraketh stared at her, unconvinced. "You really think your protection spells are going to do much good against their kind of magic?"

She looked back to him flatly. "…You really think getting below deck is going to make me much safer against their kind of magic?"

The High Child frowned in response for a few moments. However, having no retort, he turned and followed Jalab and Ceja to the bulkhead. The two warriors paused and looked back, noticing Dael wasn't coming. Both were hesitant, but moved inside in the end. Taraketh himself gave a second look before going in as well. The bulkhead didn't shut, but they were soon in. As for Dael, she exhaled, and then turned back forward again as the Excalibur continued to turn. She made sure to check her chamber again, just to make sure she had loaded the Thundaga bullet, and then focused ahead.

The Lamb fleet was beginning to break. Dael couldn't honestly tell if that was a good move or a bad move. Apart, they had little chance of stopping even one of those destroyers, no matter how small. But together…they might all get wiped out with one fell swoop. Luckily, before they got too far, Cryder had them back in the shallows and hugging the coast. He proceeded to start taking them around the island, headed for the southern channel. Only a few minutes later, he went into it. Dael had no idea what the long range sensors looked like, but the Knight-Class Destroyers weren't terribly slow like the bigger warships. They'd be able to around fairly soon. And for this little mission, they'd receive no backup. However, she only hoped that the destroyer only saw the fleeing ships. They needed to get as close as possible before they were spotted. After all, even if there wasn't an Elite Hound on that ship, they had the advantage of firing range with their own missile launcher. Yet it still didn't make Dael feel much better when, looking behind her, they turned one last corner of the space between islands and the last of the Lamb ships vanished from view. When that passed, she looked ahead.

She turned on the relay soon after. "Cid? How does the radar look?"

"The destroyer is still coming…picking up speed." Cid responded. "It's going for the channel, alright."

"Bahamut, stand by. Get ready to start firing on it. Aim for the prow."

Just as before, the Excalibur began to weave, moving in and out from the irregular coastline. The "channel" widened and contracted multiple times as they moved to the south. There was no sign of the enemy destroyer, but that only figured. They had the edge on it for the moment…at least, Dael thought. Cid would notify her, at any rate. Still, that didn't stop her from fearing that they'd turn a corner just in time to see the destroyer coming around and firing on them. Her mind raced. Which one had they gone after? Was it Li Juanhong's? Crow's? Jay's? She wasn't sure if she should feel good about any of those. Perhaps Crow would be the easiest. After all…they could use radio silence, right?

The time stretched out far longer than Dael wanted. Again, she wasn't sure if she should be happy or sad. So long as they were getting drawn away from the thick of the fighting, then nothing could jump in and lend a hand to the enemy destroyer. Then again…no one could help them either, either on the shore or on the sea. All potential allies were going farther and farther away. The anticipation grew worse, as well. It made her more and more nervous as time ticked by. She began to cast spells early out of simple unease…

Finally, Cid spoke up again.

"They're moving to the coast and dropping speed. They'll turn the corner soon. We're headed right for their path."

Dael looked up at that, snapping to attention. Sure enough, the channel was widening now. Both coasts were expanding outward, opening into the sea. They only had another mile or so to go. Yet as they closed to a half-mile, still weaving around the coast…they saw it. Abruptly, the enemy destroyer came around the edge, out on the sea, and making a turn into their direction.

The commander called out. "Cryder, take us straight at it! Max speed! Bahamut, open fire! Keep it from countering!"

Whether the pirate thought this was insanity or not was moot. Dael's voice was so urgent, and the appearance so sudden that there was little time to complain about it or challenge the order. At once, the Excalibur orientated away from the coast and began to advance straight for the enemy destroyer. The rear turret soon spun around and aimed at it. As for the destroyer itself, it took continued its turn, aiming itself fully at their own ship. For a moment or so, the two ships began to go straight for each other…

Then, it began. The sun began to dim overhead. Dael looked up, and saw thick dark clouds coming in. Not only that, but the wind started to pick up. It started as a small breeze, but soon it grew quite forceful against Dael, tugging her clothes powerfully, and beginning to swirl as the clouds accumulated and began to rotate. At once, she knew.

Jay.

Let's hope he really is the "weakest"…and that it makes a difference whether he is or isn't.

As the sea began to form waves, Dael turned to the relay. "Bahamut, you need to start firing now! Keep him from casting!"

To be honest, she wasn't sure if they were in range yet…or, even if they were, if Bahamut was a good enough gunner. However, a moment later, she heard the turret swirl, and then fire off a shot. As the shell shot through the air, the storm only continued to grow in intensity, going from being a stiff wind to a gale…and becoming the making of a raging storm. Waves began to lap around the boat, and Dael felt it shift as the clouds above started to grow lower…

When they suddenly lessened. The winds ebbed, and the clouds began to ascend again as the waves fell flat. A few moments later, the shell impacted the deck of the ship, and a fireball went out. It was far, but even from this distance, Dael could see that the shell, in fact, had not connected with the front. It had blown up just above it. The commander realized he must have used his power to make a shield, and had to break off in order to do it.

However, the moment the flames died…the sky began to grow dark again and the wind pick up.

Dael called into the relay. "Keep firing! As fast as you can!"

"Dael, we'll overheat the guns!" Cid shouted back. "They could lock up and jam at any time if we do that!"

"We don't have a choice! If we let him finish building his attack, we're sunk!"

"But how will we fight back?"

"Just keep coming toward him! If we get close enough, he won't be able to use that attack without sinking his own ship!"

The radio went silent, and a moment later, another shot fired. They were closer this time, so the wind didn't even grow as bad as before when it cut off again, and once more fire erupted from the front of the ship. The Excalibur continued to pick up speed, going closer and closer to it. By now, however, the enemy seemed to realize what they were doing…and they weren't going to stand for it. As they continued to close, the launcher suddenly began to go active on the enemy ship. Dael saw it begin to elevate. A second later, as the storm built again, a rocket was launched. From this range, it didn't take long to arch around and head straight for their ship. Dael went wide-eyed for a moment. She had ordered Quaren below with everyone else. That meant…

Soon after, however, the last drone fired off to the side. The missile soon altered course and streaked after that, and a moment later went off. From this close, the Excalibur buckled a bit, but continued forward relentlessly. Dael recoiled and shielded herself from the heat, but the shrapnel bounced off harmlessly. Yet as soon as she was up again, Dael called into the relay.

"Quaren, you were supposed to go below!"

"I wasn't going to let you charge that destroyer without countermeasures, commander!" His voice retorted over the relay.

"Well that was our last drone, so get below now!"

"What about you?"

"That's an order, corporal! Cryder, get us there faster! We have to be too close for them to arm another missile!"

Even as she called this, the storm built again, only to be cut off again by another cannon shot from Bahamut. Yet that was cold comfort, as yet another missile launched. Dael snapped to it and went wide-eyed. They had no drones left. If this hit… Then again, the range was very small at this point. Less than minimal range? They might have disabled the safety systems… They were crazy enough to do that… But they didn't even look like they were in range as is… The missile spiraled through the air, and Dael could only watch it. It was definitely the shortest launch of the day…but short enough? It reached its zenith in no time, and began to descend. She chanted one last protection spell, enveloping the upper deck in a prism of light momentarily…for all the good it would do. As the missile dropped the last bit of distance, she closed her eyes and held.

All she heard was a loud clang. Immediately, her eyes snapped open, just in time to see the disarmed missle, flopping over like a tin can away from a large dent it made in the control tower, going over and over itself, arching into the air, and then flopping into the sea.

Dael's heart began to beat again as she looked forward. They were nearly there. Of course, now came the second part of her plan…and she wasn't exactly sure how effective it would end up being… She turned back to the relay…but soon froze.

No!

Dael had assumed, with the Excalibur being the ship-of-the-line, that their turrets could become active faster than a Knight-Class Destroyer's. She was wrong. Already, the gun was coming online and swiveling around to aim at them. And she was located right in the target's path.

She soon called a different command into the relay. "Evasive!"

"Damn it to the depths, lass! We're going too fast!"

Abruptly, Dael was nearly thrown off the ship as the Excalibur gave a swift twist to one side. Her body was almost flung into a railing, and she ended up catching it in the side. Thanks to her own protection spell…it merely smarted rather than broke a rib. Still, she had to clutch it desperately to keep herself from flipping over it. Even so, at their speed, the Excalibur barely began to turn aside before she saw smoke and light erupt from the cannons.

The little ship was soon violently rocked. Sounds of metal malforming, twisting, and erupting rang out, and Dael soon held on harder than ever as the ship cast about to and fro. The smell of smoke and burned metal filled her nostrils. Dael, on her part, held on tight and waited, thinking that this was it…that they were dead in the water…

Yet, somehow, the Excalibur's engines were still running, and it got out of it. When it did, she managed to crack her eyes open even as metal fragments rained from the sky. She looked to the ship, and soon felt her heart sink again.

The bridge was intact, but nothing was left of the aft turret except a twisted bit of debris, smoldering and smoking. The last weapon that the Excalibur still possessed was no more. They were unarmed.

Dael swore and cursed herself. How could she have been so stupid? She had panicked and hadn't considered the fact that the front turret was already empty and dead. They could have taken a shot to that and been fine. Well…she wouldn't have been fine…but they still could have fired back. Her plan was now ruined. They were nothing more than a sitting duck now. She looked to the enemy ship, and saw that the turret, while cooling, was already aiming for the bridge next. They were waiting…waiting for their weapons to be ready. They could afford to now. The Excalibur was defenseless.

However, Dael soon narrowed her gaze.

Not quite…there's still time for one last thing…

She turned to the relay again and switched it back on. "Cryder, turn the ship back and resume ramming the enemy destroyer! Take us straight at it this time! Fast as you can! Hurry, before their barrels cool!"

"…Lass, enough is enough!" The pirate retorted. "We're defenseless! That destroyer may be old, but it'll still tear through the Excalibur like she's made of tissue! You want to play 'chicken' with it?"

"Just do it, Cryder! I've got an idea! But get us close to that ship now or we'll be fired on before we can do it!"

"What good will that possibly do, Dael?" Cid responded.

"Follow my order!" Was the only response Dael gave. And pray I'm not being an idiot…

There was only a momentary pause, before the Excalibur once again came around. Soon, it was bearing straight at the destroyer again, and picking up speed. More and more details emerged on it. It wasn't even hurt yet. She couldn't see Jay, but obviously he had managed to keep it from taking any damage. That was power beyond Dael. She realized what she was doing was nothing short of idiocy, but there was no choice now. As the ship picked up speed, she put her hand on her Mage Gun.

The turret stayed firmly aimed at the bridge, but was still cooling. Despite all the thoughts that had gone through Dael's head, she had acted quickly and Cryder had responded quickly. However, the destroyer didn't just do that. It seemed to know what Cid and Cryder knew. It angled itself straight at the Excalibur and began to accelerate as well. It was obviously planning to damage it with a straight-up ramming move, maybe take it down. And with Jay on board, he'd simply jump on and finish them all off even if they didn't sink them. This had to work…although, given what the Sybenians were planning, this amounted to suicide…

The two ships continued to accelerate to each other. Just like Cryder said, they were playing "chicken", and since the Sybenians knew they could win, they had no incentive to break off. The turret still didn't fire. Perhaps they didn't want to bother wasting the shot. As they neared, Dael pulled her gun out and began to walk up to the prow of the ship. She went up to the relay that Ceja and Jalab had been using, right behind their hastily-made shield. At last, the two ships were within a hundred yards of each other, and still blazing. When that happened, Dael quickly switched on the relay and gave one last command.

"Alright, Cryder! Go to one side! Shoot by it!" After a moment, she added one more thing. "…And wish me luck!"

Before anyone on the other end could respond, Dael switched off the relay and, with one leap, cleared the shield and was out in the open, right on the prow of the ship and staring at the incoming destroyer, now less than fifty yards away. Ceja made this look so easy… Teleporting would make more sense, but that was no good. It would take too much energy that she had left…and she knew she'd need everything she had now. The two ships went into twenty yards…ten…and finally, their prows crossed…

I'm insane…

Giving a yell to push herself, Dael used all of her enhanced strength to leap off of the deck of the Excalibur just as it swerved and shot by the enemy vessel, the two hulls colliding and scraping loudly against each other, kicking up sparks. For a moment, she sailed through the air, until the incoming deck of the enemy destroyer flew by and under her. When it did, Dael raised her hand, aimed right for the control tower of the opposing destroyer, and fired her Thundaga bullet at it.

A moment later, a jolt went through Dael's legs as she landed on the deck of the enemy destroyer. Luckily for her, most of the front was flat and clear, and she quickly went into a somersault. Still, if she had been anyone else, she might have killed herself with this move. The two ships were going by each other too fast. She rolled twice before she practically sprawled out on the deck. Soon after, she quickly began to scramble to her feet…even as she heard what sounded like a colossal thunderclap ring out from the deck. She looked up, past the armed turret right in front of her, and toward the control tower. Her Thundaga bullet had hit the mark, and ignited. Now, a massive bolt of electricity had struck it and was snaking through it. The lights on the tower flickered on and off, before many of them went dead all together. A large portion of it was fried from the point of bolt contact, destroying the metal hull and warping the tower. It was still gleaming bright and hot.

As for Dael, she was panting now. Her heart was racing. Quickly, she reached into her pocket and yanked out her second bullet, popped open her chamber, and slammed it inside. After that, she holstered it again, and looked out to sea. Even without any magic being used, the sky was darker now. Clouds had moved in, and things had turned grayer. The wind had picked up on its own and the waves were a bit higher. She watched as she saw the Excalibur, a large scrape on its starboard side, race off into the ocean. They had to realize what was happening now…what she had done. She exhaled a bit at the thought…again wondering just how crazy her move really was.

Yet as she stared, she heard it.

The sound of a blade being scraped against the hull.

Somehow, over the waves and wind, she managed to catch it. She looked to the source. As she did, she noticed, aside from the turret, that most of the deck was flat and expansive. It had been topped with a porous layer to keep crewmen from slipping. Yet it was also mostly level. She realized, to a bittersweet thought, that it was a decent battleground. She saw nothing at first, but her head turned straight to the noise…on the side of the control tower. A moment later, she saw him.

Still dressed the same, obviously having not taken any damage from that rockslide…as impossible as it seemed…still shrouding his face in that scarf and his ravenous eyes almost glowing at her…Jay brandished both of his glaives as he came into full view. He looked like a predator staring down his prey…or a snake who had seen a mouse be stupid enough to crawl into its hole.

"Well, well, Ms. Levinson…" He hissed as he slowly began to step out. As he did, Dael began to move more to the center of the deck, away from the edges. No sense being knocked over the side right away. "Small world. You'd almost think we were dating. I'm actually a little surprised. I suppose I shouldn't be overwhelmed to know you were the one on that boat. Not only is Esthar stupid enough to send a silly girl to do everything for it, but the same silly girl. Heirarch must be an idiot. He thinks Esthar will somehow repel him if he moves too fast, when all they have is one little girl and her band of merry men defending it. And here I thought I'd have to carve your little boat up like a tin can in order to find this juicy piece of meat that stands before me…"

He cracked his neck a little. "Tell me, 'commander'…was it pure recklessness that made you jump onto this boat to get yourself killed without any of your little friends to back you up, or utter stupidity to think doing so would make a difference?"

Dael, to be honest, was a little unnerved. Not by Jay's appearance, but by the fact that he knew about her promotion… However, she pushed that aside. She could think about that later.

"Try strategy." She flatly answered, as she drew her own blade and held it at her side. "You disabled our weapons. However, I find a Thundaga bullet tends to short out machines, even big ones like those on a destroyer, for a good five minutes or longer. I might have even taken a lot of your systems offline with that shot. Furthermore, I'm here now. You can't summon another one of those category five tornadoes on the Excalibur so long as I'm keeping you busy, and if you try to bring it down on me, you'll sink your own ship in the process."

Jay snorted in response.

"'Utter stupidity' it is." He retorted. "You're assuming any one of those things is a cure, not a delay of the inevitable. I'm going to enjoy taking a big bloody bite out of your corpse right for your friends to see before I jump over and send them to join your fate. You seem to forget, meat…I'm still far beyond anything you are or will ever be."

Dael forced herself not to sweat by calming herself mentally. Not too good of a job, but enough to make it look as if all she felt was confidence…which was pretty far from the truth. Still…she knew this wasn't as hopeless as it seemed. There was a small chance of winning now…

"And you seem to forget that I've seen you in action once and fought you personally once." Dael retorted. "Esthar's Hawks don't just fight and forget. They learn and adapt. I know your style now. And I have a new trick or two up my sleeve."

Jay snorted. "Fearful ramblings…a stupid attempt to make the wolfhound think the kitten can defend herself… As meaningless as rearing yourself up and hissing…in the end, just glamour. You couldn't possibly have learned anything new or gotten any stronger in such a short time. I think I'll demonstrate by disemboweling you with my first move…"

With that, the Elite Hound raised his glaives and brandished them, and crouched to leap and slash…

…And, for only the second time since he and Dael had "met", registered surprise.

Dael didn't brace for the attack this time. Instead, leaving herself open during his warm-up, she went right for him, stabbing at his head. Quickly, he broke his attack and reared up to intercept the sword, catching it between his glaives. Yet Dael quickly went into a feint. The weapon had hardly made contact with the glaives than she quickly pulled it out again a split second before Jay could lock her blade in place and twist it free like last time. His eyes gleamed, he grinned in response, and then he reared back to start a circular series of swipes at her…or, at least, he tried to. Before he could, Dael dove forward and stabbed for his side. It wouldn't have been a major blow, but it would have hurt and made it harder to fight…causing him to break his attack and quickly deflect it. In response, he brought his opposite glaive around for a slash, only to see that Dael had anticipated the block and quickly brought her blade up and around to hack for his shoulder. He soon broke off his attack again to deflect that strike.

His grin began to fade a bit here as he struck the blade aside and brought both of his weapons together to try and stab for Dael's throat. Again, he didn't get the chance, as Dael snapped her sword to one side, and instead shot forward with nothing but her bare hand, aiming an iron palm for his throat. It was a reckless move. It left her wide open, and had she been a moment slower, she would have run into a pair of blades that would have pierced either lung. But it was so abrupt and quick that Jay himself was reckless in response, and halted his attack just long enough for Dael to bring her blade around, and, of all things, began to deliver a few blows of her own, trying to advance on him. It worked. He was so caught off guard…he actually stepped back. None of the blows were serious, and he struck aside each one with ease, but his grin soon faded all together as he saw. Unbelievably, he was on the defensive, pathetic as it might have been.

Gritting his teeth, his eyes flashing, he snapped his glaive up and around and prepared to lop off Dael's arm on her next blow. But because her strikes were so weak and rapid, she shifted and went for his wrist on that arm, forcing him to abort the attack. However, she overextended herself, and he moved to stab her in the gut…only to have her bring the sword down for a chest slash before he could. He let out an audible snarl, if only a little one, as his attack was aborted once again. Furious, he reared back and tried issuing a series of stabs against the Esthar Hawk. But now, even more of the advantage shifted to Dael. As a result of this wild and more erratic behavior, she saw the moves telegraphed more and more, and aborted each and every one with a counter of her own.

Almost growling by now, Jay yanked back his weapon and tried to drive it into her head in fury…and left one side of his chest open. As he came forward, Dael reacted and shifted her blade out, holding it…and, in a move that stopped him more from shock even than pain…Jay thrust his own chest onto the tip of the blade and pierced into the skin. His eyes opened in shock.

Dael had actually drawn first blood.

His eyes soon filled with rage, and he went nearly animalistic as he tore his blade back and tried to drive both into her neck. But Dael was again too fast, crossing her blade and advancing. She intercepted both blades when they were close to him, before he could even build up enough power to stab, and locked there. The two clashed, their weapons colliding, and Dael moved in close and pressed her body against her weapon, managing to pin his arms where he couldn't bring his full strength behind them. The two clashed, nearly face to face.

Jay glared at her with a mixture of shock and rage, but gradually the surprise won out.

"How are you doing this?" He half-stated, half-demanded. "You couldn't have gained any new power or learned any new abilities in just a week!"

To tell the truth, Dael was now sweating. Her moves had been light, but they had been quick, and the strain had mounted on her. She was breathing a bit harder, and already her muscles were beginning to burn from the speed and strength she had been forced to display, especially since most of her hits were not "generalized" but with purpose. However, she managed a small smile as she looked at him.

"Fighting smarter, not harder." She answered. "It's clear to me now you were sloppy before the junction, and it gave you little incentive to improve. I know your repetoire by now. Your strategy is to use fast and powerful moves at critical points, force your opponent to waste a lot of energy deflecting each one. But you're terrible at countering. You look like you don't even know what to do sometimes to respond to my attacks. You're used to being the only one on the offense. So if I go for your openings while you're trying to launch an attack, I force you to abort each time even if I leave myself open in the process in order for you to defend yourself. Maybe I didn't get much stronger, but maybe you aren't familiar with our reputation in Esthar's Hawks. Most militaries on Gaia, from my understanding, tell their special forces 'always make sure you kill a Hawk in your first fight'."

Jay snarled again from beneath his scarf. "So the little kitten can get in a scratch. Big deal. None of that matters…"

Abruptly, he wrenched his weapons down, and Dael, for all of her strength, winced as she felt her wrists twisted. She tried to withstand it, but it was no good, and soon her sword was forced lower.

"When you're stronger, faster, and better than your opponent in every way!"

With that, Jay smashed his head forward to connect with Dael's skull.

By now, the Esthar's Hawk learned that trying to take a head on blow from an Elite Hound was too much. Hence, she managed to roll back and not take all of the impact…enough to keep her wits. But it still connected with sufficient force to send pain radiating through her skull, and made her stagger backward, breaking free. She tried to recover, but was too slow. Snarling again, like an animal, Jay was free to begin his assault, and did so.

He wasn't trying to play cruel this time. Instead, he hammered down on Dael again and again with one sweeping slice after another. Where before his blows hurt, it was worse than ever now. Dael felt her arms and even her pectoral muscles buckle under each blow. He was attacking like a savage, trying to overwhelm her completely. And, as fast as he was striking, she was sure he would do it. There wasn't even any finesse to his attacks, just advancing and slashing down again and again. However, that was enough. He was sick of this person giving him so much trouble. He wanted to dominate her in every way, and her own enhanced speed and strength could barely hold up. Unable to weather the attack, she had to start backing up to the edge of the ship.

She soon realized what a bad position this was as more sweat broke out on her brow, beginning to roll down it. She was being pushed off the edge. Once she hit the rail, she'd have nowhere to go. But more than that, she realized that Jay wasn't going to wait for that. He was assaulting her too strongly. He wanted her overwhelmed…wanted her dead. And her body was beginning to burn and strain to withstand it. Even her legs hurt from the continuous assault… However, seeing that the edge was going to him, Jay's grin returned. Abruptly, he yanked one of his glaives away and went in for a stab…headed for the shoulder. Dael realized if he hit that, that arm would be useless. Quickly, she shifted it…but still took a horrible blow. She let out a mild cry as the blade went into her collarbone. Not enough to break it, bit it pierced it, and send horrible pain radiating through her. She nearly crumbled from it, and faltered. Giving a laugh, he darted forward and sliced across her chest next, opening a bloody gash across it. More pain flooded her…stunned her…

…No! Focus!

As he came in to drive another slab into her, however, Dael focused, gave a yell, and swung her blade out to slice through Jay's exposed shin. It was a shallow cut, but blood flew from it. He was shocked once again. His smile vanished as he saw Dael once again manage to counter, and the move made his own blow go wild and offsides. Quickly, drawing her focus, her power, and her training, Dael maneuver out of the way and managed to slice her blade at Jay once again, this time going for his neck. He managed to intercept it…but fully halted his assault on doing so, once again shifting the battle back in Dael's direction.

Seeing what happened, he snarled and rapidly threw her blade aside with one hand, moving to slice in again…but was too late. Dael, in pain and straining as she was, wasn't giving in now. Her foot went up and delivered a blow to his solar plexus. It connected hard, and he let out a small gasp as some of his air was knocked out of his lungs, aborting his blow and making him step back. His eyes widened and he gagged, but he still tried to attack, only for Dael to force more out of her body and initiate another stop hit. Soon, she was attacking half-wild and reckless, half-calm and focused. She continued to use stop hits on him, taking advantage of her blow to his abdomen slowing and weakening him slightly, but she also attacked as well. All of her blows were meaningless, unfortunately. He guarded against each one. However, it managed to push him back, forcing him away from the railing and back onto the ship. Maybe it wasn't a winning strategy…but it was a survival one.

Jay eventually recovered. His blows began to get steadily faster and stronger as they fought, although Dael continued to manage to push him back. She couldn't let up now. She had to keep herself from breaking. However, after a while, his look of irritation returned. It wasn't anger, though…which made Dael worry. As she launched another weak blow, he swung both of his glaives around…and intercepted it. The sword soon was caught in his curved blades again. She tried to push…but her strength was still inferior to his, and he held tight. When that happened, he grinned at her again. Dael knew why as sweat started to sting her eyes and her breathing became more audible and labored. He had her. Now he'd push her down and start everything again… She had to be smarter.

…Hope this insane move works.

As he began to slowly increase the power, looking to overwhelm her only deliberately and gradually…she decided to act. She held back against the push only until his power reached a certain point, and then suddenly let her blade go. The way that Jay had her blade, it didn't just snap down, but actually spun in a spiral. The move actually shocked him, but not as much as what she did next. Immediately, she dropped to the ground and, of all things, launched a sweeping kick for his ankles. Jay barely saw it in time. Quickly, he had to leap into the air to avoid it. As soon as he did, Dael was already around. Quickly, she brought her foot back under her, and snapped up into the air, seizing her still falling sword out of it, and then lunging at Jay's throat. He landed just in time to see it, and quickly locked his glaives together and caught it, saving himself just in time. His eyes actually widened at the surprise of the move. However, rather than let herself be caught in a trap again, Dael quickly yanked her blade away again, and stepped backward.

Here, she stood her ground a moment. Sweat was dripping on the ground, her wounds were still bleeding and hurt, and her sword was getting heavier in spite of her strength. Yet she could still fight. As for Jay, he held a moment, and lowered his glaives. His own eyes locked hungrily on her, but his mirth had faded again. He had a few wounds of his own, although they didn't even seem to be causing him discomfort. Plus, his brow was noticeably damp as well…although nowhere near Dael's.

"You're really starting to piss me off, girl…" He hissed. "You're quite irritating and persistent, and I don't really feel like wearing you down until I kill you."

"I don't think you have much of a choice here." Dael flatly answered.

He snorted. "Oh I don't, do I?"

Immediately, he crossed his blades together and let out a stream of arcane words. His aura flared, and, in a split second, a column of air, whirling about with razor-like piercing power and force, rocketed toward her.

Dael swore mentally. She had forgotten how fast he could get a spell off. There was little time to waste, and even less she could do. She brought her sword in front of her and braced herself…before the column of air smashed into her middle. She soon cried out again. The blades of wind sliced into her arms, shredded her tunic, and cut the flash underneath before ripping her off her feet and flinging her across the deck. She landed a moment later on the hard metal, sending more pain radiating through her. Luckily, none of the cuts had been too deep. Somehow, she managed to get enough of her bearings to roll backward, get her feet underneath her, and struggle to rise again…

That was when a smaller whirlwind shot out, caught her legs, and ripped her feet out from under her, sending her falling to the ground again. Again, she took a painful blow, this time one to the chin. Quickly, she began to rise…and just in time too. Giving a bestial yell, Jay was leaping into the air and bringing both of his glaives down on where she was lying. Quickly, she rolled to one side, and avoided as they plunged into the metal deck. However, she wasn't able to avoid the next blow, as Jay reached out and smashed her in the gut with his foot. She soon gave a gag of her own, but luckily no ribs broke. She did go sliding along the deck, however, farther away from him, as he yanked his glaives out. She tried to rise again…

When yet another went column hit her, this time slicing open her cheek and nearly cutting her eye before she fell to the deck again for another jarring blow.

"Stay where you belong, meat." Jay snorted, before he charged at her again, looking to try the diving move again.

Dael grit her teeth and managed to look up again, seeing him incoming. She thought of moving…but he'd just use his magic again. And each one of those columns of air both cut as well as hurt like a monstrous blow.

Alright…time for my magic.

As Jay went in, abruptly six "Daels" broke off from the first one, and each began to scatter. They all fanned out and readied their blades, while the last one rose and did the same, each aiming for a blow.

He gave the one in the middle a snort. "This trick again, kitten? Like it's going to save you…"

He quickly lashed out a whirlwind at the one in the center to bowl it back over…only to have it vanish.

He snorted again. "So you're a bit smarter this time? Then try this!"

As the other six began to dart inward, he chanted again, and started to swirl his glaives out to either side of him. In response, the winds rapidly picked up, and soon he was surrounded by a fierce tempest in all directions. He held it for a moment, letting it build to brutal power as the copies closed in, and then he sent it flying out. His hungry eyes looked about, waiting for the true Dael to get hit, and then to follow up with another column of air…

Therefore, he was rather surprised when all of them vanished on being struck.

He registered genuine puzzlement. "Huh?"

"Behind you."

Jay spun around in a flash…and was just in time to see a Thundaga bullet connect with his body and ignite.

Now, the Elite Hound felt true pain, and he showed it. As a monstrous bolt of lightning erupted from the heavens and struck him, his entire body was lit up like a theater marquee. His limbs went rigid and he bellowed in agony as electricity shot through his body, burning his hands where they made contact with the metal of his glaives. Yet fifty feet away, also on deck, Dael slumped a bit, nearly dropping her gun and hunching over. She was running out of power…and she honestly hoped that this finished him, or at least took the fight out of him.

The illusion spell had been tiring enough at this point. She was running out of steam quickly as it was, and even simple spells took more out of her. Yet she had pulled a "fast one" on him. She knew the last time she used an illusion spell, it hadn't worked so well. So she purposely teleported right before an attack hit her, letting him think he had hit an illusion instead, and giving her both the time and an opening to hit her with her strongest move available.

Well…one of the strongest…and I better try to think about doing the other move if he gets out of this, because I'm almost out of tricks…

The woman could normally fire even high-level mage bullets without restraint, but tired as she was, even this one had taken a bit more out of her. Even if she had another bullet ready, she'd probably collapse if she fired it. She managed to put the gun away and weakly raised her blade once again, and looked as the lightning faded…almost too soon for her tastes. She didn't like what she saw, unfortunately.

Jay was still standing, not even buckling. That wasn't to say he hadn't gotten hurt, however. His clothing was charred and in tatters. His scarf, between the slashes and the lightning, had burned and ruined enough to where a passing wind from the ocean picked it up and carried it away…revealing the face beyond. It was horrible, twisted, and mad. His teeth were jagged and irregular, the victim of rot and cruelty. His lips and nose were scarred too. It looked as if most of his lips had been cut off at one point, revealing only a horrible visage behind. However, he had more than one burn on his body too, and he was definitely sweating and straining from the pain and agony he had just endured. Yet rather than slow him down, that only made him more enraged than ever. He glared with almost maddening hate at Dael.

"Oh…that…DOES IT…little kitten…" He hissed with absolute hatred. To be honest, Dael was overwhelmed. How was he still standing? His feet were literally touching molten metal from the discharge! If that wasn't enough, she realized something else in the corner of her vision. The control tower for the destroyer was rebooting…coming back online. Yet Jay was so enraged that the skies overhead grew more violent and tempestuous. He wasn't even summoning a spell, and it was building. "I'm through playing nice with you, bitch! I'm just going to cut and cut and cut until there's nothing left! And there isn't a slice from that little butter knife in the world that can save you!"

Immediately, giving a bestial roar, Jay lunged at Dael. Her eyes widened a bit. Somehow, she had just enough time, presence, of mind, and, most importantly, energy to cast one last protection spell, but then he was on her. Quickly, she brought her blade up, going for another weakness, trying to drive it into his side to get him to break off the attack.

To her shock, and pain…he pushed himself onto her blade, letting it pierce deep into him, so that he could drive his own blades into either one of her shoulders.

Jay didn't even cry out when blood erupted both from in front of him and behind him. But Dael, on the other hand, gave a sharp cry as she felt her strength fail in both limbs. To her shock, her arms fell and her sword clattered to the ground. She didn't have the strength to hold it anymore. She thought of using a kick attack, but it was too late. Jay immediately slashed across her chest again, cutting deeper this time, wracking her body with more pain and making her spill backward. He slashed yet again after that, cutting deeper again, and causing more blood to fountain out. By now, it was making her dizzy, in addition to the exhaustion. Plus, each blow hurt, filled her with more agony.

The man had turned into a savage. He brought his glaives up and swung them around to the pommel, and then began to smash her head and face one way and another. He beat into her wounds, against her body, against her neck, furiously striking everything he could, and each blow robbed her of more remaining strength. What senses she had faded, as he continued to beat again and again. Finally, he lashed both legs up and caught her under the chin, knocking her aside and flinging her across the deck.

Dael slid to a halt, but wasn't able to get back up. She left a bloody streak behind her, and she could barely move, not unless she could recover. However…again, she didn't get a chance. In a flash, Jay was in the air, and then came crashing down on her…driving both of his knees into her stomach as he did so. Her eyes bulged, her mouth opened, and she gagged blood. It was only because of the protection spell that half of her chest wasn't crushed. Even as this happened, however, Jay drove his glaives into either hand…piercing between her palm bones and nailing her to the deck. She cried out a bit with each one…before both of her limbs were "nailed" to the deck. After that, he seized her by the lapel.

"I'm going to beat you and cut you and beat you and cut you until you're the meat you are!" He hissed. "Then I'm going to tear your throat out with my teeth!"

Dael could only groan and wince in response. Her senses were fading. The world was swirling again. Even what Jay threatened was like in and out of a dream…or something at the end of a tunnel. She couldn't focus on it… She was trying to see him, but all she saw was a blurred face and…

…Light?

With that, the Esthar's Hawk gave a start. The beating had altered her consciousness…made it so she could see the light again. In fact, with only concentrating a bit…she saw it perfectly. The connection between her and the ship, the water, the sky, and even Jay. The pounding he had given her had knocked her for such a loop that everything became clear… But there was more than that.

She had a ton of accumulated pain. And now, her inner reserve felt "full"…fuller than it had ever been. She felt like she was holding back a tremendous amount of power that was lapping at the "threads of light" connecting the two…

Unfortunately, there was little she could do about it. She was pinned, and Jay was both on her and had her arms immobilized. Her sword was halfway across the deck. What more, the destroyer was back online. Even if she could do anything, the crew would kill her soon afterward. She couldn't fight them anymore. She didn't even know where the Excalibur was at the moment. She was dead even with her power…

Unless…I teleport.

Dael almost dreaded it. It was true that teleporting drained her, especially doing so multiple times. But now…she felt another teleport might actually kill her. She seriously doubted she had enough steam after it was done to pull it off…

But then again, if she didn't pull one off, she was dead anyway. Jay was already readying to do everything he threatened. Either this would work, or she'd be finished. In the end, she made the choice.

As the savage brought his fist up, she chanted again, quickly letting out the teleportation spell. She braced herself for the result…and a moment later Jay's hand smashed a dent into the metal deck…but Dael was gone.

Instead, the young woman reappeared behind him, over her sword…and immediately collapsed onto all fours. She barely kept herself from falling more than that. She panted and wheezed once there. She tried to move…but it was impossible. She didn't even know what was going on anymore. She practically fainted as it was. Her strength began to fade all together. She realized her gamble was too much. She couldn't do it… She didn't even know if Jay had seen her or not. All she knew is she had no power left…she was finished…

…No!

I'm an Esthar's Hawk! I won't give up…!

She continued to lean there a moment, before, with every fiber of her being, she literally forced her brain to start working and seeing again. She forced her body to move, even if it didn't want to. And, gradually, almost painstakingly slowly…the threads reappeared. She began to see light and connections around her, the flow of everything…and soon, she saw that a human-shaped flow was already standing over her, victorious and gloating. It held weapons in the air…weapons like glaives. It was Jay. He was readying to deliver the final strike.

Yet she saw something else…her sword right beneath her.

It was now or never. She had no power left in her own limbs, and so she had to use the power Bahamut had shown her. As Jay raised his glaives higher, she finally did it. She focused on the connection, and let go…letting the bond between her, the sword, and Jay flow…and soon, the world blacked out.

Dael didn't see what she pulled off, the sum result of her build-up of power. But everyone on the Excalibur, the destroyer, and Jay himself saw.

One moment, Dael was down… The next, her hand went out and seized her blade hilt with both hands, and she snapped up and onto her feet in a flash that belayed the speed of the Elite Hound. He was stunned, but that was a problem for him, as he would soon find out. Dael flicked her blade down against the deck…and the mere cast-off power of her blow, to his utter shock, as well as everyone else's…caused a flash of potent light that cleaved straight through the hull, slicing the entire front of the ship off all together, from the top of the deck to the bottom of the hull. He opened his mouth…but then soon got the business end. That cut was just the "warm-up". A moment later, she ripped her blade straight up…and the world seemed to turn black for a moment as an intense steak of light ripped through clean upward, shooting to the heavens and actually making the clouds that Jay generated fade and vanish.

And as for Jay, he took the blade head on…and a six-inch deep cut was ripped across his body from his hip to his shoulder, slicing muscles, blood vessels, organs, and bone as if they all were nothing more than air.

Only then, frozen in that position with her blood-stained sword aimed skyward, did Dael's consciousness come back. The world came back in, and she gaped to see herself standing before Jay…and a monstrous bloody cut across his torso. The glaives dropped to the ground in a clatter as blood gushed out of him. His face, twisted and horrible before, was now horrified and shocked, and he turned and looked down at his body, seeing the blood…and other things…fountaining out from it. He dumbly looked up to Dael, his face already turning white.

"But…but…I'm an Elite Hound…" He whined in a whisper. "You're…supposed to be…meat… You're not supposed…to…kill…me…"

A moment later, his arms fell, and he collapsed to the deck. He breathed his last a second later.

Dael was a statue…a brittle, wavering statue. She stayed that way a moment before a massive groaning came from beneath her. Snapping her head down, she gasped again, and stumbled backward onto the bulk of the ship as she saw the entire prow bend and sever off from the rest of the destroyer, sinking into the ocean. The remaining ship began to fill with water quickly. Alarms were blared, and soon crewmen opened the bulkheads and ran out on deck, furiously trying to bail out from the sinking vessel. To her shock, Dael realized she had cleaved right through it with that last move. In one blow, she had eliminated an Elite Hound and destroyed the Knight-Class Destroyer.

She soon fell on her rear end, right at the severed edge of the ship, still gleaming as it rapidly lowered. She looked down to her limbs, still holding her sword…and was in total disbelief.

How could I have such power…?

As she thought of this, however…she heard footsteps land beside her. She blinked, and looked up…just in time to see a familiar face on the deck. She was almost shocked.

"…Ceja?"

The Fuliet warrior gave her a smile back. "Perhaps you could have passed the Shenindunten as well, commander…" She said as she picked Dael up and literally slung her over one shoulder. As she did, Dael was addled a bit, but managed to look around. The Excalibur had come around and pulled up next to the enemy destroyer again. Obviously, Ceja had leapt off to pick her up. Good thing too, because Dael couldn't move at this point, and she saw that the deck of the destroyer was already only half the height of the Excalibur. She wished she could hold on tight, but that wasn't really an option at her current level of power. Instead, she merely hung limply as her stomach did a tumble when Ceja leapt back off of the deck of the sinking ship and onto her own.

Yet even as she landed, she felt her hand tingling. Though she had a hard time keeping conscious, she looked over to it. As the dark skies cleared, she managed to see quite clearly the result.

An emblem of a tornado burned into the back of her bloody palm for a moment, and then vanished.

The radio registered only static. There wasn't even a blip or a voice of anyone trying to get through. Raven listened for a bit longer, but then simply found the noise disagreeable, and then switched it off to a different channel. He turned his head slightly, so that he wasn't facing the wind. After all, it was blowing rather hard on the front deck of the destroyer he was perched on, especially coming through the channel ahead, and he didn't want it to get picked up on the radio.

"Well…did he disembark?"

"…No sir." The voice on the other end answered. It seemed to be a bit nervous. After all, not one member of the attack force in the Sybenian Navy, the three Elite Hounds included, had expected to see what had transpired, or to hear what the last few transmissions of the Man-At-Arms had been before it sank beneath the waters of the ocean. "…I…I believe…he was neutralized by the assailant."

"Look again, you peon imbecile." The voice of Crow retorted. "The little brat couldn't even lay a mark on him."

"…While I'm inclined to believe you, madame…at the bare minimum, some new sort of weapon was used. Perhaps a hidden one…something that struck him down as well as cut the Man-At-Arms into two pieces…"

"It was no new weapon, unless you consider a 'super' Esthar's Hawk a bio-weapon of some sort." Raven calmly responded, ending his explanation. "You saw correctly, captain. Dael Levinson killed Jay and destroyed the ship with a single blow."

"That little twit couldn't even land a hit on you." Crow responded. "Granted, you're quite a bit more than Jay was…but she doesn't have the means to get the most out of her Guardian Force like we do. You heard what he said in their fight before. She was nothing to him."

"Apparently not." Raven simply answered.

A snort from her end. "…Bring my ship around. I'll teach her and everyone on their boat some manners…"

"Don't bother." Raven flatly cut off. "Captain, what's the status of the remaining fleet?"

A pause. "…It seems they realize what that new boat did. They're regrouping again, going to stand their ground, it looks like."

"All the better to kill them all in one fell swoop." Crow retorted. "The little wretches. Think because Jay got sloppy that they have nothing to fear? Even if we weren't in the fleet, they'd be dead. They're hopelessly outnumbered."

"…Outnumbered, yes. Hopelessly…not so much." The captain darkly responded. "Esthar sent reinforcements. They're appearing on the mid-range sensors now. In the time it takes our fleet to get into position to fire on the remaining Lamb fleet, they'll have joined with them."

"And this is supposed to scare us…how?" Crow responded. "Whether there be one trash boat out there or a hundred, the result will be the same."

"…Understood, captain. Crow and I are falling back." Raven calmly stated into the radio. "I suggest you pass along my message to the admiral to do the same."

There was a pause from both ends on the other line.

"…Sir?"

"Are you mad?"

"Rozan Heirarch wanted a total rout of the Lamb Archipelago. Seems he won't get what he wants. To be able to trounce the enemy, the navy will have to start using the aircraft and suffering heavy losses as they try to overcome the enemy blockades. They don't even know how many artillery units on shore they still possess. The navy will win the day, yes, but they'll be in poor shape to take the main island."

"Who cares? After this is gone, there's literally nothing in the world standing between Sybenia and a land invasion of Esthar. And even if they were five times this size, the two of us could destroy them all!"

"And not too long ago, we thought the same thing about the three of us." Raven responded. "Now, one new ship manages to disable eleven of ours single-handedly. Who knows if Esthar made more of those? And what of this new power it seems Ms. Levinson has discovered?"

Another pause. "…You're actually scared of that little brat?"

"I'm beginning to think she's more worthwhile than she initially appeared back in Helheim." Raven simply answered. "Let's leave it at that. I'm withdrawing. If you'd like to face the wrath of their entire combined navy and whoever is on their new ship, be my guest. You shouldn't take this so hard. After all…it's not like any sweet victory they obtain won't turn into ash in their mouths within the next 24 hours."

He turned off the radio after saying this.

Dael still wasn't really sure what was happening. Her body felt like useless weight as she was dragged back in the ship and to the bridge along with everyone else. Once there, Taraketh lowered over her and began to go to work, but she wasn't sure who else was present. Her senses were swimming, and she had no idea what was going on, what was being said, or even how much time had passed. Her body was on fire with soreness, and she was completely exhausted. She didn't even know how she was managing to keep her eyes open.

She heard some vague voices after a while.

"She's not getting up…"

"I'm only healing her injuries. I can't give her back her stamina."

"Here. Let me."

Dael wasn't sure exactly what happened, but out of her foggy vision, she saw a strong palm come down and place itself on her chest. She winced a bit, for although her slashes were closed and healing, they were still tender. A moment later, she saw some light…and then felt something press into her chest with a shock…

At once, Dael was alert again. She spasmed and let out a large gasp, arching her back and opening her eyes wide as she felt what seemed like a shot of adrenaline go into her. As she looked up, she now saw the bridge of the Excalibur clearly. That wasn't all, however. She saw that everyone was gathered there, and huddled around her, seeming to be eagerly hoping she would get up. Taraketh was at her side but pulling back. Jalab was over her, and had his palm aimed against her chest. She saw his aura fade, and the other seemed to be looking to Dael and to him at the same time. No one seemed to be manning the boat at the moment. However, on seeing Dael alert once again, everyone began to smile at her.

The young woman slumped back a moment later and breathed more evenly for a few moments, then looked up to the others again.

"What…happened?" She stated. "Where am I? Is this the Excalibur?"

"Sure as hell ain't the Gungir, lass." Cryder said with a grin.

"When you sliced the destroyer in two, Cryder brought the ship around as fast as he could." Quaren spoke up from the side. "Ceja jumped on and got you off."

Dael blinked a moment, and then looked stunned at what Quaren had just told her. "…Did you say 'sliced the destroyer in two'?" She echoed.

"That's not all." Ceja continued. "You dispatched that Elite Hound with one blow. It seemed to have taxed you considerably, however. Taraketh had to heal you, and then Sir Tierras performed an additional technique that revived you."

"Another mantra manipulation." Taraketh explained. "The ability to transfer some of one's own energy to another. At any rate…what I'm more curious about is how you pulled off that attack in the first place."

"Same here, commander." Quaren immediately threw in, giving her a look. "I mean…they never taught us anything like that in school. And even with your junction, I've never seen you do anything like that before. I'm junctioned too and I know I couldn't pull that off."

Dael exhaled a bit, and then looked to the opposite side, where Bahamut was standing. "You can ask my 'teacher' over there." She said with a gesture.

However, she soon paused, for she saw Bahamut staring at her very seriously.

"…Dael, that move was inconceivable." He stated in response. "That's the kind of move only magic-embued knights of the highest order could ever pull off, like Paladins. Even then, I don't think I've ever seen one of that magnitude before. At least…not personally. In terms of history, there's only been a handful who could manage it…"

The young officer had to pause a moment. She tried to remember what happened. She was so out of it from a combination of a beating and exhaustion before…but she began to remember things. Jay had been poised to kill her. She had used all she had left to teleport and focus on using the ability Bahamut showed her. She couldn't even remember what she did, but she vaguely remembered something… She recalled seeing the threads of light, and seeing one large thread between her sword, the destroyer, and even Jay…running straight through all of them. She thought of striking it…but she couldn't recall doing so. The next vague memory she had was standing before him with her blade angled upward, the destroyer split in two and Jay nearly the same.

She was shocked, frankly. She had no idea she could have summoned that kind of power. This was far above and beyond what she had done on the deck of the covert destroyer. However, she realized she had a lot more 'built-up'. Like some sort of internal capacitor, the more Jay unloaded on her, the more she 'charged' until she could unload it powerfully enough to perform that move. Apparently, by beating her to the edge of death, she could summon power far above and beyond even what an Elite Hound was capable of…

And if so, then that meant…

It was almost crazy to consider in view of their first meeting, but Dael, against all odds, had single-handedly dispatched an Elite Hound. Even if he was the "weakest", she had still done it. That meant Sybenia wasn't as invincible in that regard as they seemed. What more, she felt new power inside her, she began to realize. She had an image in her mind…of some purple, multi-colored creature. It must have been Pandemona. She remembered what Taraketh had told her months ago. If a Guardian Force wielder struck down someone else junctioned to a Guardian Force, they inherited the Guardian Force without a trial. Sybenia's Guardian Force supply had been decreased by one while Esthar's had been increased by one. Powerful as he was, and much as Dael didn't want to get into a fight with him, Li Juanhong was beginning to look possibly beatable…as was Sybenia.

However, she shook her head and snapped out of this. She didn't have time to gloat over her own power any longer. She had defeated Jay, but the naval battle was far from decided, let alone the war. She forced her hands underneath her and began to rise. It made her dizzy, but she could still do it.

"Forget my small victory…" She stated to the others. "Don't just stand around me. We need to get the Excalibur moving. We can't fight back anymore and the battle is still on."

The others paused for a moment on hearing this. Soon after, a few of them looked to each other, and then back to Dael with a smile.

"Relax, lass. We've got time to spare now. The battle's good as done." Cryder responded.

"The reinforcements from Esthar arrived." Cid responded. "They must figure we have a whole fleet of ships like the Excalibur. Or…" He gave a shrug here. "Maybe they're just scared of our new 'secret weapon'." He said with a grin to her. "I mean, anything that chops a ship in two with one strike is something to be scared of."

"They know they're not the only side that can eliminate ships easily now." Taraketh threw in.

"…Yes they are." Dael flatly answered. "The only reason I pulled off that move was because I had built up a lot of pain, and I doubt I could manage it again. Even if I could, I don't feel like getting beaten up until I can."

"They don't know that though, commander." Quaren maintained. "Cid's right. They hesitated as soon as you took down Jay. Soon after, the two ships that had Crow and Raven on them turned and backed off. The rest of the fleet hung back while Lamb came forward again, and then the ships from Esthar got into range. When that happened…they broke. I don't think they want to risk us throwing any more 'surprises' at them."

"Indeed." Ceja threw in, crossing her own arms. "These Sybenian dogs are only brave when they think their opponents are helpless. Pathetic excuses for warriors."

"Heh…not bad for a classic 'Baron vs. Bab-Il' fight, eh, mateys?" Cryder asked rhetorically to everyone. Soon after, he looked to Bahamut and reached out to ruffle his hair. "Especially you, little big man. You'd give Tay a run for his money, and that's sayin' a lot. You all sure you don't want to get into the piratin' business when this is all over?"

Bahamut, however, didn't show much mirth. In fact, he was the only one in the group who wasn't smiling. Instead, he appeared uncomfortable. One might conclude that was from the fact that he had to fire a lot of guns and missiles just now, but Dael knew better. Bahamut was as much of the warrior mentality as the rest of them, and more so than most. That hadn't been it. It was the same reason she wasn't smiling at the moment…this didn't seem right.

Sybenia was aggressive and with a superiority complex, which is exactly why this didn't make sense. They still had overwhelming numbers and firepower. Sure, this victory might have been a bit more costly, and in light of recent events the odds were no longer completely with them. But they were far from a point in which they needed to sweat. If they pushed, they could wear the defenders down. They had already taken out a lot of defenses from Lamb on the shore. They hadn't even brought their planes to bear yet. They might have to settle for a longer fight than they did for Garrado, but this was by no means a defeat or rout. So why break off now? Did Rozan Heirarch want to see that unstoppable? If so…then why break off? It made him seem a whole lot more beatable now…

This isn't right… Something's going on.

In spite of her victory against Jay, Dael was beginning to wonder if they had suffered a defeat, and just didn't know about what it was yet.

Snapping out of it, she looked to the others. "…Cid, stay on the long range sensors and keep me advised as soon as communications are working again. Cryder, get us to the port in Lamb. We need to start getting the Excalibur ready for action again. Everyone else…let's get below and see what we can do about bailing the ship out."

The seriousness in Dael's voice, and her attitude of authority, caused no small amount of puzzlement among the group.

"…Is something wrong, commander?" Quaren asked.

"Not that I can tell, corporal." Dael responded. "So let's get the Excalibur back in perfect condition as soon as possible, because when something does go wrong…we better be ready for it."

To be continued...